;KEE  THOUSAND  YEARS 
OF  MENTAL  HEALING 


'fr!  1'T 


iRARY 

«tS!TY  Of 
UPOONIA 
.N  DIE9O 


BOOKS  BY  GEORGE  B.  CUTTEN 

PUBLISHED  BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Three  Thousand  Years  of  Mental  Healing. 

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THREE  THOUSAND  YEARS  OF 
MENTAL  HEALING 


BAS-RELIEF   REPRESENTING   THE   GALLIC   AESCULAPIUS 
DISPATCHING   A   DEMON 


THREE  THOUSAND  YEAES  OF 
MENTAL  HEALING 


BY 

GEORGE  BARTON  CUTTEN,  PH.D. 

(YALE) 
PRESIDENT  OF  ACADIA  UNIVERSITY 


ILLUSTRATED 


ct<j^    NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1911 


COPYRIGHT,  1911,  BT 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  February,  1911 


ClOOW 


THIS   BOOK   IS   DEDICATED   TO   THE   MEMORY 

OF 

artemug  SlSiipman  Satoper,  JD.D,,  &.IUD* 

PEBSIDENT  OP  ACADIA   UNIVERSITY 

1869-1896 

HE  HID  FROM  US  HIS  HEART  WHILE  WE  THOUGHT  THAT   HE    LOVED 
ONLY     HIS     STUDIES  J     WE     LATER     LEARNED     THAT     HE     LAID 
EMPHASIS  ON  THAT  WHICH  HE  LOVED  ONLY  LESS  —  TRUE 
KNOWLEDGE,   IN     ORDER   THAT     HE     MIGHT    INTRO- 
DUCE  IT  TO  THOSE  THAT  HE  LOVED    MOST  — 
HIS  PUPILS.    HE  TAUGHT  AS  NONE  OTHER 


PREFACE 

THE  present  decade  has  experienced  an  intense 
interest  in  mental  healing.  This  has  come  as  a 
culmination  of  the  development  along  these  lines 
during  the  past  half  century.  It  has  shown  itself 
in  the  beginning  of  new  religious  sects  with  this  as 
a,  or  the,  fundamental  tenet,  in  more  wide-spread 
general  movements,  and  in  the  scientific  study  and 
application  of  the  principles  underlying  this  form 
of  therapeutics. 

Many  have  been  led  astray  because,  being  igno- 
rant of  the  mental  healing  movements  and  vagaries 
of  the  past,  the  late  applications,  veiled  in  meta- 
physical or  religious  verbiage,  have  seemed  to  them 
to  be  new  in  origin  and  principle.  No  one  could 
consider  an  historical  survey  of  the  subject  and 
reasonably  hold  this  opinion.  It  is  on  account  of 
the  ignorance  of  similar  movements,  millenniums  old, 
that  so  much,  if  any,  originality  can  be  credited  to 
the  founders. 

The  object  of  this  volume  is  to  present  a  general 
view  of  mental  healing,  dealing  more  especially 
with  the  historical  side  of  the  subject.  While  this  is 
divided  topically,  the  topics  are  presented  in  a  com- 


viii  PREFACE 

paratively  chronological  order,  and  thereby  trace  the 
development  of  the  subject  to  the  present  century. 

The  term  "mental  healing"  is  given  the  broadest 
possible  use,  and  comprehends  any  cures  which  may 
be  brought  about  by  the  effect  of  the  mind  over  the 
body,  regardless  of  whether  the  power  back  of  the 
cure  is  supposed  to  be  deity,  demons,  other  human 
beings,  or  the  individual  mind  of  the  patient. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  may  contribute  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  a  subject  which  is  of  such  wide-spread  pop- 
ular interest. 

GEORGE  BARTON  CUTTEN. 

WOLFVILLE,   NOVA   SCOTIA, 

December  1,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    INTRODUCTION— MENTAL  HEALING      ...  3 

II.    EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 19 

III.  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY     ...  35 

IV.  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 61 

V.    HEALERS 110 

VI.    TALISMANS 138 

VII.    AMULETS 158 

VIII.    CHARMS 189 

IX.    ROYAL  TOUCH 224 

X.    MESMER  AND  AFTER 249 

XI.    THE  HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  273 

INDEX                    .              ...  309 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

BAS-RELIEF  REPRESENTING  THE  GALLIC  JSSCULAPITJS 

DISPATCHING  A  DEMON Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

CURE  THROUGH  THE  INTERCESSION  OF  A  HEALING  SAINT      .  72 

VALENTINE  GREATRAKES 134 

SIR  KENELM  DIGBY 152 

KING'S  TOUCH-PIECES 226 

F.  A.  MESMER 252 

JOHN  ALEXANDER  DOWIE 276 

GEORGE  O.  BARNES 290 

MARY  BAKER  EDDY 302 


THREE   THOUSAND   YEARS   OF 
MENTAL   HEALING 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION— MENTAL   HEALING 

"Tis  painful  thinking  that  corrodes  our  clay." — ARMSTRONG. 

"Oh,  if  I  could  once  make  a  resolution,  and  determine  to  be  well! " 

— WALDERSTEIN. 

"The  body  and  the  mind  are  like  a  jerkin  and  a  jerkin's  lining, 
rumple  the  one  and  you  rumple  the  other." — STERNE. 

"  I  find,  by  experience,  that  the  mind  and  the  body  are  more  than 
married,  for  they  are  most  intimately  united;  and  when  the  one 
suffers,  the  other  sympathizes." — CHESTERFIELD. 

"Sublime  is  the  dominion  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  that  for  a 
time  can  make  flesh  and  nerve  impregnable,  and  string  the  sinews 
like  steel,  so  that  the  weak  become  so  mighty." — STOWE. 

"The  surest  road  to  health,  say  what  they  will, 
Is  never  to  suppose  we  shall  be  ill; 
Most  of  those  evils  we  poor  mortals  know 
From  doctors  and  imagination  flow." — CHURCHILL. 

THE  fact  that  there  is  a  reciprocal  relation  be- 
tween mental  states  and  bodily  conditions,  acting 
both  for  good  and  ill,  is  nothing  new  in  human 
experience.  Even  among  the  most  crude  and  un- 
observing,  traditions  and  incidents  have  given 
witness  to  this  knowledge.  For  centuries  stories  of 
the  hair  turning  white  during  the  night  on  account 
of  fright  or  sorrow,  the  cause  and  cure  of  diseases 
through  emotional  disturbances,  and  death,  usually 
directly  by  apoplexy,  caused  by  anger,  grief,  or  joy, 
have  been  current  and  generally  accepted.  On  the 
other  hand,  irritability  and  moroseness  caused  by 


4  MENTAL  HEALING 

disordered  organs  of  digestion,  change  of  acumen  or 
morals  due  to  injury  of  the  brain  or  nervous  system, 
and  insanity  produced  by  bodily  diseases,  are  also 
accepted  proofs  of  the  effect  of  the  body  on  the 
mind. 

Recent  scientific  investigation  has  been  directed 
along  the  line  of  the  influence  of  the  mind  over  the 
body,  and  to  that  phase  of  this  influence  which 
deals  with  the  cure  rather  than  the  cause  of  disease. 
In  addition  to  what  the  scientists  have  done  along 
this  line,  various  religious  cults  have  added  the 
application  of  these  principles  to  their  other  tenets 
and  activities,  or  else  have  made  this  the  chief 
corner-stone  of  a  new  structure.  There  are  some 
reasons  why  this  connection  with  religion  should 
continue  to  exist,  and  why  it  has  been  a  great  help 
both  to  the  building  up  of  these  particular  sects  and 
the  healing  of  the  bodies  of  those  who  combine  re- 
ligion with  mental  healing. 

We  must  not  forget  that  in  early  days  the  priest, 
the  magician,  and  the  physician  were  combined  in 
one  person,  and  that  primitive  religious  notions  are 
difficult  to  slough  off.  Shortly  before  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  there  were  some  indications  that 
healing  was  to  be  freed  from  the  bondage  of  religion, 
but  the  influence  of  Jesus'  healing  upon  Christians, 
and  the  overwhelming  influence  of  Christianity  upon 
the  whole  world,  delayed  this  movement,  so  that  it 
did  not  again  become  prominent  until  the  sixteenth 


MENTAL  HEALING  5 

century.  About  this  time,  when  therapeutics  as  a 
science  began  to  shake  off  the  shackles  of  religion 
and  superstition,  another  startling  innovation  was 
noticeable,  viz.,  the  division  of  mental  healing  into 
religious  and  non-religious  healing.  This  change 
came  gradually,  and  as  is  usual  in  all  reform,  cer- 
tain prophets  saw  and  proclaimed  the  real  truth 
which  the  people  were  not  able  to  follow  or  receive 
for  centuries. 

Paracelsus,  who  lived  during  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  wrote  these  shrewd  words: 
"Whether  the  object  of  your  faith  is  real  or  false, 
you  will  nevertheless  obtain  the  same  effects.  Thus, 
if  I  believe  in  St.  Peter's  statue  as  I  would  have  be- 
lieved in  St.  Peter  himself,  I  will  obtain  the  same 
effects  that  I  would  have  obtained  from  St.  Peter; 
but  that  is  superstition.  Faith,  however,  produces 
miracles,  and  whether  it  be  true  or  false  faith,  it  will 
always  produce  the  same  wonders."  We  have  also 
this  penetrating  observation  from  Pierre  Ponpo- 
nazzi,  of  Milan,  an  author  of  the  same  century: 
"We  can  easily  conceive  the  marvellous  effects 
which  confidence  and  imagination  can  produce,  par- 
ticularly when  both  qualities  are  reciprocal  between 
the  subject  and  the  person  who  influences  them. 
The  cures  attributed  to  the  influence  of  certain 
relics  are  the  effect  of  this  imagination  and  con- 
fidence. Quacks  and  philosophers  know  that  if  the 
bones  of  any  skeleton  were  put  in  the  place  of  the 


6  MENTAL  HEALING 

saint's  bones,  the  sick  would  none  the  less  experi- 
ence beneficial  effects,  if  they  believed  they  were 
near  veritable  relics." 

What  seemed  to  be  a  movement  whereby  mental 
healing  should  be  divided  so  that  only  a  portion  of 
it  should  be  connected  with  religion  proved  to  be 
too  far  in  advance  of  its  time,  and  not  until  the 
advent  of  Mesmer  was  this  accomplished.  Healing 
other  than  mental,  however,  did  obtain  its  freedom 
at  this  time.  While  Mesmer  and  his  followers  empha- 
sized non-religious  mental  healing,  it  should  not  be 
thought  that  mental  therapeutics  was  ever  entirely 
separated  from  the  church.  There  have  always  been 
found  some  sects  which  laid  particular  emphasis  on  it, 
and  both  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  orthodox 
Christianity  have  always  admitted  it.  It  has  been 
considered,  even  if  not  admitted,  that  the  power  of 
the  Infinite  was  more  clearly  shown  by  the  healing  of 
the  body  than  by  the  restoration  of  the  moral  life. 
It  is  natural,  then,  that  the  sects  which  showed  this 
special  proof  of  God's  presence  and  power  would 
grow  faster  than  their  spiritual  competitors,  but 
that  they  would  decline  more  rapidly  and  surely 
than  those  which  espoused  more  spiritual  doctrines. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  why 
mental  healing  would  be  helped  by  its  connection 
with  religion.  Religion  grips  the  whole  mind  more 
firmly  than  any  other  subject  has  ever  done,  and 
when  one  accepts  the  orthodox  conception  of  God, 


MENTAL  HEALING  7 

he  naturally  expects  to  come  in  contact  with  One 
whose  sympathies  are  in  favor  of  the  cure  of  his 
diseases,  and  whose  power  is  sufficient  to  bring  about 
this  cure.  With  this  basis  there  is  set  up  in  the  mind 
of  the  patient  an  expectancy  which  has  always 
proven  to  be  a  most  valuable  precursor  of  a  cure. 
The  devout  religious  attitude  of  mind  is  one  most 
favorable  for  the  working  of  suggestion,  and  persons 
of  the  temperament  adapted  to  the  religious  ex- 
pression most  valued  in  the  past  are  those  who 
could  be  most  readily  affected  by  mental  means. 
For  these  reasons,  it  can  be  easily  understood  why 
mental  healing  has  continued  to  be  associated  with 
religion,  and  why  when  thus  associated  it  has  been 
so  successful. 

To  those  not  very  familiar  with  mental  healing, 
it  has  seemed  strange  that  any  law  could  be  formu- 
lated which  would  comprehend  every  variety.  In 
the  following  pages  many  different  forms  will  be 
described,  and  in  examining  the  subject  it  will  be 
found  that  many  and  varied  are  the  explanations 
given  for  the  results  produced.  We  find  also  a  gen- 
eral distrust  of  all  the  others,  or  else  a  claim  that 
this  particular  sect  is  the  only  real  and  true  ex- 
ponent of  mental  healing,  and  that  it  produces  the 
only  genuine  cures.  Those  which  claim  to  be 
Christian  sects,  however  divergent  the  direct  ex- 
planation of  their  results,  give  the  final  credit  to 
God,  and  base  their  modus  operandi  upon  the  Bible 


8  MENTAL  HEALING 

— in  fact,  they  claim  to  be  the  direct  successors  of 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  in  this  respect. 

We  find,  however,  that  the  healer  connected  with 
the  Christian  sect  has  no  advantage  over  his  Mo- 
hammedan or  Buddhist  brother,  and  that  neither  is 
able  to  succeed  better  than  the  non-religious  healer 
in  all  cases.  We  recognize  that  when  one  class  of 
healers  fails  in  a  case  another  may  succeed,  but  the 
successful  one  is  just  as  liable  to  fail  in  a  second 
case  when  the  first  one  cures.  What  particular  form 
of  suggestion  is  most  effective  in  any  given  case  de- 
pends upon  the  temperament  of  the  individual  and 
his  education,  religious  training,  and  environment. 
When  we  consider  the  whole  matter  we  are  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  mental  cures  are  independent 
of  any  particular  sect,  religion,  or  philosophy;  some 
are  cured  by  one  form  and  some  by  another.  Not 
the  creed,  but  some  force  which  resides  in  the  mind 
of  every  one  accomplishes  the  cure,  and  the  most 
that  any  religion  or  philosophy  can  do  is  to  bring 
this  force  into  action. 

As  a  general  rule,  one  sharp  distinction  is  noticed 
between  the  religious  and  the  non-religious  healers, 
viz.,  the  religious  healer  sees  no  limit  to  his  healing 
power,  and  affirms  that  cancer  and  Bright's  disease 
are  as  easily  cured,  in  theory  at  least,  as  neuralgia 
or  insomnia;  the  non-religious  healer,  sometimes 
designated  as  the  "scientific  healer,"  on  the  con- 
trary, recognizes  that  there  are  some  diseases  which 


MENTAL  HEALING  9 

are  more  easily  cured  than  others,  and  that  of  those 
others  some  are  practically  incurable  by  psycho- 
therapeutic  methods. 

The  line  has  been  drawn  in  the  past  between  func- 
tional and  organic  diseases,  the  former  including 
diseases  where  there  is  simply  a  derangement  of 
function,  like  indigestion,  and  the  latter  compre- 
hending the  diseases  where  the  organ  is  affected, 
like  ulcer  of  the  stomach.  The  more  we  know  about 
diseases  the  less  sure  we  seem  to  be  about  their 
classification;  some  of  which  we  were  formerly  sure 
have  recently  caused  us  considerable  doubt.  For 
example,  we  have  formerly  classed  cancer  as  an  or- 
ganic disease  and  consequently  incurable  by  mental 
means.  The  question  is  now  asked,  "Is  cancer  an 
organic  disease,  or  is  it  some  functional  derangement 
of  the  epithelium  tissue  which  causes  it  to  grow  in- 
definitely until  it  invades  some  vital  organ?" 

A  further  question  arises  due  to  further  study. 
Some  of  the  latest  investigators  claim  that  most  if 
not  all  persons  have  cancer  at  some  time  in  life, 
but  that  anti-toxin  or  some  other  remedy  is  supplied 
by  the  body  itself,  and  the  growth  is  stopped  and  the 
tissue  absorbed.  The  question  then  seems  to  be 
pertinent,  "If  the  body  can  produce  the  cure  within 
itself,  and  this  would  be  functional,  why  cannot 
mental  means  stimulate  the  body  to  produce  it?" 
or  "Does  not  mental  influence  stimulate  the  body 
to  produce  it?"  What  the  cancer  experts  tell  us  of 


10  MENTAL  HEALING 

the  wide-spread  extension  of  the  disease  and  its 
spontaneous  cure,  the  tuberculosis  experts  affirm  of 
tuberculosis,  and  certainly  of  the  latter  disease  spon- 
taneous cures  are  not  uncommon.  We  also  know 
that  mental  influence  may,  in  fact  does,  have  an 
indirect  but  no  less  beneficial  influence  in  the  cure 
of  tuberculosis.  From  these  examples  one  seems  to 
be  forced  to  either  one  of  two  conclusions,  either  of 
which  is  contrary  to  generally  accepted  ideas,  viz., 
first,  that  these  are  not  organic  diseases;  or,  second, 
organic  diseases  are  aided  or  cured  by  means  of 
mental  healing.  In  general,  however,  the  distinc- 
tion holds  good;  the  so-called  functional  cases  are 
amenable  to  cure  by  mental  means,  and  the  organic 
are  much  less  so. 

Coming  back,  then,  to  the  common  law  which 
underlies  all  cases  or  forms  of  mental  healing,  we 
find  two  general  principles  upon  which  it  is  built — 
the  power  of  the  mind  over  the  body,  and  the  im- 
portance of  suggestion  as  a  factor  in  the  cure  of  the 
disease.  The  law  may  be  tersely  stated  in  the  first 
person  as  follows:  My  body  tends  to  adjust  itself  so 
as  to  be  in  harmony  with  my  ideas  concerning  it. 
This  law  is  equally  applicable  to  the  cause  or  cure  of 
disease  by  mental  means.  To  apply  this  law  in  a 
universal  way  as  far  as  mental  healing  is  concerned, 
we  should  notice  that  however  the  thought  of  cure 
may  come  into  the  mind,  whether  by  external  or 
auto-suggestion,  if  it  is  firmly  rooted  so  as  to  im- 


MENTAL  HEALING  11 

press  the  subconsciousness,  that  part  of  the  mind 
which  rules  the  bodily  organs,  a  tendency  toward 
cure  is  at  once  set  up  and  continues  as  long  as  that 
thought  has  the  ascendency. 

Hack  Tuke  quotes  Johannes  Miiller,  a  physiolo- 
gist who  lived  during  the  first  half  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, as  follows:  "It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  fact 
that  any  state  of  body  which  is  conceived  to  be  ap- 
proaching, and  which  is  expected  with  certain  con- 
fidence and  certainty  of  occurrence,  will  be  very 
prone  to  ensue,  as  the  mere  result  of  the  idea,  if  it 
do  not  lie  beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility."  This 
is  a  fair  statement  of  the  law  from  the  stand-point  of 
consciousness,  but  does  not  include  all  of  the  vast 
influence  of  subconscious  ideas  which  are  so  potent 
in  the  cure  of  diseases  by  mental  means.  Mailer's 
observation  was  in  advance  of  his  times,  but  could 
not  be  expected  to  include  the  results  of  the  latest 
researches  of  modern  science. 

For  a  great  many  years  physicians  have  recog- 
nized that  not  only  are  all  diseases  made  worse  by 
an  incorrect  mental  attitude,  but  that  some  diseases 
are  the  direct  result  of  worry  and  other  mental  dis- 
turbances. The  mental  force  which  causes  colored 
water  to  act  as  an  emetic,  or  postage-stamps  to  pro- 
duce a  blister,  can  also  produce  organic  diseases  of 
a  serious  nature.  The  large  mental  factor  in  the 
cause  of  diseases  is  generally  admitted,  and  it  seems 
reasonable  to  infer  that  what  is  caused  by  mental 


12  MENTAL  HEALING 

influence  may  be  cured  by  the  same  means.  There 
is  no  restriction  in  the  power  of  the  mind  in  causing 
disease,  and  should  we  restrict  the  mind  as  a  factor 
in  the  cure?  The  trouble  seems  to  be  in  the  ex- 
planation. People  ask,  "How  can  the  mind  have 
such  an  effect  upon  the  body?"  and  to  the  answer 
of  this  question  we  must  now  turn  our  attention. 

We  all  recognize  that  involuntarily  certain  bodily 
effects  take  place.  We  blush  when  we  do  not  wish 
to;  we  betray  our  fears  by  our  blanched  faces. 
Some  other  factors  of  mind  than  the  conscious  mental 
processes  have  charge,  and  rule  certain  functions. 
The  heart,  the  respiratory  apparatus,  the  glands, 
and  digestive  organs  all  carry  on  their  regular  func- 
tions during  sleep  and  also  better  without  our 
direction  when  we  are  awake.  What  is  the  explana- 
tion of  this?  We  have  recently  been  saying  that  the 
subconsciousness  rules  these  physical  organs,  and 
through  this  that  the  effects  already  referred  to 
take  place.  So  much  has  been  written  recently 
regarding  the  subconsciousness  that  anything  more 
at  this  time  would  be  superfluous;  suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  general  conclusions  on  that  subject  are 
accepted  as  the  basis  of  faith  cure.  We  may,  how- 
ever, go  further  in  our  endeavor  to  explain. 

In  such  mental  troubles  as  psychasthesia  much 
has  lately  been  heard  about  psycho-analysis  and  re- 
education. What  does  that  mean  in  the  language 
of  the  psychology  of  a  few  years  ago?  In  cases  of 


MENTAL  HEALING  13 

unreasonable  fears  or  phobias,  for  example,  there 
is  a  firmly  rooted  system  of  ideas  which  refuses  to 
depart  at  the  command  of  consciousness.  We  ana- 
lyze the  mental  store  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the 
unreasonable  persistence,  and  sometimes,  quite  fre- 
quently in  fact,  have  to  resort  to  hypnosis  or 
hypnodization  to  find  the  initial  trouble.  It  is  then 
corrected,  and  re-education  consists  in  living  over 
again  from  the  first  experience,  the  events  con- 
nected with  that  fear  and  correcting  them  up  to 
date.  In  this  process  minutes  only  are  used  where 
the  original  experiences  took  weeks.  Putting  it  in 
other  words,  we  have  certain  systems  of  ideas;  as  a 
psychological  fact  of  long  standing  we  know  that 
other  elements  may  be  injected  into  that  system  so 
as  to  change  it,  or  that  one  system  may  be  destroyed 
and  another  system  built  up  to  take  its  place.  This 
is  the  secret  of  cures  of  this  nature — of  mental 
troubles — the  irritating  factor,  the  thorn  in  the 
mind,  is  extracted. 

We  have  heard  in  modern  psychology  of  the  hot 
and  cold  places  in  consciousness,  or,  to  use  other 
terms  for  the  same  idea,  the  central  and  peripheral 
ideas,  meaning  the  ideas  which  dominate  conscious- 
ness, and  those  which  are  in  the  background.  The 
mind  can  readily  attend  to  only  one  thing  at  a  time; 
if  that  be  pain,  for  example,  that  takes  up  all  of  our 
attention.  On  the  other  hand,  if  for  some  reason 
some  other  ideas  suddenly  become  central,  then  the 


14  MENTAL  HEALING 

pain  is  driven  away  to  the  periphery  and  we  say  we 
have  no  pain,  or  we  have  less  pain.  The  sufferer 
from  neuralgia  experiences  no  pain  as  he  responds 
to  the  fire  alarm,  and  the  toothache  stops  entirely 
as  we  undergo  the  excitement  and  fear  of  entering 
the  dentist's  office.  Serious  lesions  yield  to  pro- 
found emotion  born  of  persuasion,  confidence,  or 
excitement;  either  the  gouty  or  rheumatic  man, 
after  hobbling  about  for  years,  finds  his  legs  if  pur- 
sued by  a  wild  bull,  or  the  weak  and  enfeebled  in- 
valid will  jump  from  the  bed  and  carry  out  heavy 
articles  from  a  burning  house.  The  central  idea  is 
sufficient  to  command  all  the  reserve  energy,  and 
that  idea  which  has  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
become  central  may  remain  so.  What  Chalmers 
called  "the  expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection"  in 
the  cure  of  souls,  is  the  precise  method  of  operation 
in  the  cure  of  some  bodily  ills. 

I  have  here  made  two  suggestions  which  may 
help  to  show  how  mental  healing  may  be  brought 
about.  Not  simply  the  alleviation  of  bodily  ills, 
but  the  complete  cure  may  result  from  the  influence 
on  the  subconsciousness.  A  large  number  of  cures 
are  brought  about  by  faith  in  certain  religious  prac- 
tices, this  faith  amounting  to  a  certainty  in  the 
minds  of  the  patients  before  the  cure  is  started  or 
while  it  is  in  progress.  Trustful  expectation  in  any 
one  direction  acts  powerfully  through  the  subcon- 
sciousness because  it  absorbs  the  whole  mind,  and 


MENTAL  HEALING  15 

thus  competition  with  other  ideas,  either  consciously 
or  subconsciously,  is  largely  excluded.  It  is  this 
which  acts  in  mental  healing  under  the  caption  of 
faith,  although  some  abnormal  conditions  may  also 
arise  to  assist  the  suggestion. 

That  this  confident  expectation  of  a  cure  is  the 
most  potent  means  of  bringing  it  about,  doing  that 
which  no  medical  treatment  can  accomplish,  may 
be  affirmed  as  the  generalized  result  of  experiences 
of  the  most  varied  kind,  extending  through  a  long 
series  of  ages.  It  is  this  factor  which  is  common  to 
methods  of  the  most  diverse  character.  It  is  no- 
ticeable that  any  system  of  treatment,  however 
absurd,  that  can  be  puffed  into  public  notoriety  for 
efficacy,  any  individual  who  by  accident  or  design 
obtains  a  reputation  for  a  special  gift  of  healing,  is 
certain  to  attract  a  multitude  of  sufferers,  among 
whom  will  be  many  who  are  capable  of  being  really 
benefited  by  a  strong  assurance  of  relief.  Thus, 
the  practitioner  with  a  great  reputation  has  an  ad- 
vantage over  his  neighboring  physicians,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  superior  skill  which  he  may  have 
acquired,  but  because  his  reputation  causes  this 
confident  expectation,  so  beneficial  in  itself. 

There  have  been  fashions  in  cures  as  in  other 
things.  At  one  time  a  certain  relic,  or  healer,  would 
attract  and  cure,  and  shortly  afterward  it  would  be 
deserted  and  inefficacious,  not  because  it  had  lost 
its  power,  but  because  it  had  lost  its  reputation, 


16  MENTAL  HEALING 

and  the  people  had  consequently  lost  their  faith  in 
it.  Some  other  relics  would  then  acquire  a  reputa- 
tion, spring  into  popular  favor,  and  the  crowds 
would  flock  to  them.  We  have  many  modern  in- 
stances of  this  kind.  If  sufficient  confidence  in  the 
power  of  a  concoction,  a  shrine,  a  relic,  or  a  person 
can  be  aroused,  genuine  cures  can  be  wrought  re- 
gardless of  the  healing  properties  of  the  dose. 

The  whole  system  of  mental  therapeutics  may  be 
divided  into  two  parts;  what  we  may  designate  as 
metaphysical  cure  denies  that  either  matter  or  evil 
exists,  and  heals  by  inspiring  the  belief  that  the 
disease  cannot  assail  the  patient  because  he  is  pure 
spirit;  the  other  class,  faith  cure,  recognizes  the 
disease,  but  cures  by  faith  in  the  power  of  divinity, 
persons,  objects,  or  suggestion. 

Without  doubt  the  best  example  of  the  former 
theory  and  the  most  successful  application  of  it  are 
found  in  Christian  Science.  Perhaps  it  is  not  so 
difficult  to  understand  the  frame  of  mind  which 
brought  about  this  theory  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Eddy. 
Here  was  an  hysterical,  neurotic  woman  who  knew 
nothing  all  her  life  but  illness  and  misfortune.  She 
had  suffered  much  from  many  physicians  and  was 
none  the  better  but  rather  worse.  One  physician 
had  called  her  disease  one  thing,  another  had  desig- 
nated it  another,  until  confusion  and  uncertainty 
were  increased  with  every  physician  consulted.  She 
began  to  despair  of  ever  either  knowing  about  her 


MENTAL  HEALING  17 

disease  or  of  having  it  cured.  As  a  last  resort  she 
went  to  Quimby,  and  he  told  her  there  was  no  disease 
and  no  need  of  suffering.  He  denied  the  suffering, 
and  she  accepted  his  teaching;  she  followed  him  in 
denying  disease  and  then  matter,  and  kept  on  with 
her  theory  of  negation  and  denial  until  she  evolved 
her  present  theory.  It  was  a  natural  reaction  from 
all  conceivable  pains  characteristic  of  hysteria,  to 
no  pain;  from  all  conceivable  diseases  which  differ- 
ent physicians  had  opined,  to  no  disease;  from  the 
infirmity  of  body  with  its  inhibitory  discomfitures, 
to  no  body.  The  history  of  the  founder  of  Christian 
Science  is  its  best  raison  d'etre,  especially  from  a 
psychological  stand-point,  and  the  rather  strange 
thing  is  that  a  reaction  from  an  abnormality,  going 
as  it  naturally  does  to  another  abnormality,  should 
find  a  response  in  the  religious  cravings  of  so  many; 
the  philosophy  undoubtedly  would  not  attract  as  it 
does  were  there  not  connected  with  it,  in  the  prac- 
tical working  of  the  system,  the  lure  of  mental 
healing. 

Faith  cure,  the  other  form  of  mental  healing,  has 
such  a  variety  of  forms  that  it  is  practically  im- 
possible to  describe  a  typical  one.  Faith  in  some 
power,  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  the  un- 
critical reception  of  suggestions  concerning  the  cure, 
is  the  common  factor  in  all  forms. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  Which  is  the  best 
form  of  mental  healing?  There  is  no  best  form  for 


18  MENTAL  HEALING 

all  diseases  and  all  persons.  For  example,  it  matters 
not  how  new  associational  systems  are  formed  so 
long  as  they  are  substituted  for  the  pernicious  ones. 
It  may  be  in  the  common  experiences  of  every-day 
life,  through  the  pleading  of  a  friend,  during  sleep 
or  trance,  in  some  abnormal  state  of  a  hypnotic 
character,  or  during  religious  ecstasy,  and  we  cannot 
well  say  in  any  given  case  that  one  form  will  be  more 
efficacious  than  another.  Mental  healing  creates 
nothing  new,  but  simply  makes  use  of  the  normal 
mechanism  of  the  mind  and  body.  The  question 
then  is,  What  method  of  mental  healing  is  most 
likely  to  stimulate  the  mental  mechanism  so  that 
physiological  processes  will  be  set  up  leading  to  a 
cure?  The  great  power  of  faith  and  expectancy 
may  decide  the  question,  and  the  answer  may  be  in 
favor  of  the  form  in  which  the  patient  has  the  most 
faith,  either  on  account  of  its  reputation,  or  on  ac- 
count of  some  prejudice  on  the  part  of  the  patient. 


CHAPTER  II 
EARLY   CIVILIZATIONS 

"The  office  of  the  physician  extends  equally  to  the  purification 
of  mind  and  body;  to  neglect  the  one  is  to  expose  the  other  to 
evident  peril.  It  is  not  only  the  body  that  by  its  sound  constitu- 
tion strengthens  the  soul,  but  the  well-regulated  soul  by  its  authori- 
tative power  maintains  the  body  in  perfect  health." — PLATO. 

"Aristotle  mapped  out  philosophy  and  morals  in  lines  the  world 
yet  accepts  in  the  main,  but  he  did  not  know  the  difference  between 
the  nerves  and  the  tendons.  Rome  had  a  sound  system  of  juris- 
prudence before  it  had  a  physician,  using  only  priest-craft  for  heal- 
ing. Cicero  was  the  greatest  lawyer  the  world  has  seen,  but  there 
was  not  a  man  in  Rome  who  could  have  cured  him  of  a  colic.  The 
Greek  was  an  expert  dialectician  when  he  was  using  incantations 
for  his  diseases.  As  late  as  when  the  Puritans  were  enunciating 
their  lofty  principles,  it  was  generally  held  that  the  king's  touch 
would  cure  scrofula.  Governor  Winthrop,  of  colonial  days,  treated 
'  small-pox  and  all  fevers '  by  a  powder  made  from  '  live  toads  baked 
in  an  earthen  pot  in  the  open  air.'  " — HUNGER. 

"There  is  nothing  so  absurd  or  ridiculous  that  has  not  at  some 
time  been  said  by  some  philosopher.  Fontenelle  says  he  would 
undertake  to  persuade  the  whole  republic  of  readers  to  believe  that 
the  sun  was  neither  the  cause  of  light  or  heat,  if  he  could  only  get 
six  philosophers  on  his  side." — GOLDSMITH. 

A  GLANCE  at  the  history  of  medicine  will  show 
three  fairly  well  defined  periods.  The  beginning  of 
the  first  is  hidden  in  the  uncertain  days  of  pre- 
historic ages  and  the  period  continues  down  to  early 
Christian  times — perhaps  the  end  of  the  second 
century  when  Galen  died.  The  second  period  ex- 
tends from  this  time  to  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth 
centuries,  and  the  third  period  embraces  the  last 

19 


20  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

three  or  four  centuries.  The  second  period  was  al- 
most wholly  stationary,  and  this,  we  are  ashamed 
to  say,  was  largely  due  to  the  prohibitive  attitude 
of  the  church.  The  science  of  medicine,  then,  is 
almost  wholly  the  result  of  the  investigations  and 
study  of  the  last  period.  This  means  that  medicine 
is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  sciences,  while  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  case  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  of 
arts. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  art  of  therapeutics, 
mental  healing  has  been  a  large  factor  in  the  cure. 
This  was  not  recognized,  of  course,  for  only  in  the 
last  century  has  the  psychic  element  been  admitted 
to  any  extent  as  a  therapeutic  agent.  We  can  read 
back  now,  however,  and  see  what  a  large  element 
this  really  was.  The  cruder  the  art,  the  more 
powerful  was  the  mental  influence.  The  ways  of 
primitive  therapeutics  are  completely  hidden  from 
us  except  what  we  can  gather  from  the  races  which 
retained  their  primitive  practices  in  historic  times. 
We  can  well  understand,  though,  that  the  concoc- 
tions of  medicine-men  and  witch-doctors  could  have 
little  effect  except  in  a  suggestive  way.  Snakes' 
heads,  toads'  toes,  lizards'  tails,  and  beetles'  wings 
have  a  small  place  in  the  pharmacopoeia  of  to-day, 
except  as  placebos,  and  it  is  extremely  doubtful  if 
they  were  ever  valuable  for  any  other  purpose. 

The  object  of  the  primitive  practitioner  seems  to 
have  been  to  make  an  impression  upon  the  patient 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  21 

either  by  the  explanation  of  his  disease  or  by  the 
effort  made  to  effect  a  cure.  The  explanation  most 
frequently  given  was  that  demons  were  responsible 
for  the  trouble,  and  the  cure  of  the  disease  was  an 
attempted  exorcism  of  the  demon.  The  more  fan- 
tastic the  ceremony,  the  more  likely  the  cure,  on 
account  of  the  mental  influence  upon  the  patient. 
The  primitive  man's  religion  and  therapeutics  were 
inextricably  interwoven  and,  unless  we  make  an  ex- 
ception of  the  past  few  years,  this  has  always  been 
an  unprofitable  union  for  one  or  both.  All  the 
early  civilizations  with  the  exception  of  the  Greeks, 
as  well  as  the  Christian  nations  up  to  the  sixteenth 
century,  were  handicapped  by  this  partnership,  and 
it  was  only  by  divorcing  the  two  that  therapeutics 
was  able  to  make  the  great  advance  during  the  last 
period.  The  nature  of  the  primitive  religions  was 
responsible  to  a  great  extent  for  the  nature  of  the 
method  of  healing,  therefore,  appeasing  the  offended 
deity  and  exorcising  the  demon  were  therapeutic  as 
well  as  religious  ceremonies. 

The  Chinese  of  to-day,  except  in  some  of  the  sea- 
board cities,  must  be  classed  among  the  earliest 
civilizations,  for  their  mode  of  living  has  not  changed 
much  in  the  last  two  or  three  milleniums.  Their 
system  of  medical  practice  partakes  of  the  character 
of  that  found  among  the  early  people,  with  some 
slight  modifications  which  show  some  relationship 
to  the  European  practice  during  the  Dark  Ages. 


22  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

All  sorts  of  disgusting  doses  are  administered,  and 
incantations  and  exorcisms  are  among  the  most 
effective  methods  of  healing.  For  example,  Hardy 
reports  that  a  missionary  told  him  of  his  being  called 
in  to  see  a  man  suffering  from  convulsions;  he  found 
him  smelling  white  mice  in  a  cage,  with  a  dead  fowl 
fastened  on  his  chest,  and  a  bundle  of  grass  attached 
to  his  feet.  This  had  been  the  prescription  of  a 
native  physician. 

Medicines  are  made  from  asses'  sinews,  fowls' 
blood,  bears'  gall,  shaving  of  a  rhinoceros'  horn, 
moss  grown  on  a  coffin,  and  the  dung  of  dogs,  pigs, 
fowl,  rabbits,  pigeons,  and  bats.  Cockroach  tea, 
bear-paw  soup,  essence  of  monkey  paw,  toads'  eye- 
brows, and  earth-worms  rolled  in  honey  are  common 
doses.  The  excrement  of  a  mosquito  is  considered 
as  efficacious  as  it  is  scarce,  and  here,  as  in  Europe 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  hair  of  the  dog  that  bit  you 
is  used  to  heal  the  bite  and  to  prevent  hydrophobia. 
An  infusion  from  the  bones  of  a  tiger  is  believed  to 
confer  courage,  strength,  and  agility,  and  the  flesh 
of  a  snake  is  boiled  and  eaten  to  make  one  cunning 
and  wise.  Chips  from  coffins  which  have  been  let 
down  into  the  grave  are  boiled  and  are  said  to  pos- 
sess great  virtue  for  catarrh.  Flies,  fleas,  and  bed- 
bugs prepared  in  different  ways  are  given  for  various 
diseases.  Medicines  are  given  in  all  forms,  and  not 
infrequently  pills  are  as  large  as  a  pigeon's  egg.  If 
any  of  these  medicines  ever  had  any  beneficent 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  23 

effect  it  must  have  been  through  mental  rather  than 
through  physical  means. 

Nevius  has  left  us  in  no  doubt  concerning  the  be- 
lief in  demons  among  the  Chinese,  and  of  the  effect 
this  belief  has  on  their  theory  of  disease.  Certain 
forms  are  daily  observed  to  drive  away  the  evil 
spirits.  For  this  purpose  Taoist  priests  are  hired 
to  recite  formulae,  ring  bells,  and  manipulate  bowls 
of  water,  candles,  joss-sticks,  and  curious  charms. 
Sometimes  the  family  insists  that  one  of  the  priests 
shall  ascend  a  ladder,  the  rounds  of  which  are 
formed  of  swords  or  knives  with  the  sharp  edge 
uppermost,  and  go  through  his  exorcisms  at  the 
top.  Instead  of  the  priest,  the  mother  may  make  a 
fire  of  paper  and  wave  a  small  garment  of  her  sick 
child  over  it. 

A  relative  or  friend  of  a  sick  person  will  visit  a 
temple  and  beat  the  drum,  which  notifies  the  god 
that  there  is  urgent  need  of  his  help.  To  be  sure 
that  the  god  hears,  his  ears  are  tickled,  and  the  part 
of  the  image  which  corresponds  to  the  afflicted  part 
of  the  sick  person's  body  is  rubbed.  Some  ashes 
from  the  censor  standing  before  the  image  may  be 
taken  to  the  sick-room  and  there  reverenced.  Holy 
water  is  brought  from  the  temple,  boiled  with  tea, 
and  drunk  as  a  certain  cure  for  disease.  Spells  are 
written  on  paper  and  burned;  the  ashes  are  then 
put  into  water  and  drunk  as  medicine.  Charms  and 
magical  tricks  of  all  kinds  are  tried  in  order  to  drive 
away  the  demon. 


24  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

There  were  schools  of  medicine  in  Egypt  in  the 
fifteenth  century  before  the  Christian  era,  and  the 
Egyptians  made  great  progress  in  the  study  and 
practice  of  medicine.  Notwithstanding  this,  we 
find  many  examples  of  mental  healing,  or  at  least 
attempts  at  healing  by  mental  means,  among  the 
recipes  and  prescriptions  which  have  come  down  to 
us.  Poor  and  superstitious  persons,  especially,  had 
recourse  to  dreams,  to  wizards,  to  donations,  to 
sacred  animals,  and  to  exvotos  to  the  gods.  Charms 
were  also  written  for  the  credulous,  some  of  which 
have  been  found  on  small  pieces  of  papyrus,  which 
were  rolled  up  and  worn,  as  by  the  modern  Egyp- 
tians. 

The  Ebers  papyrus,  an  important  and  very  ancient 
manual  of  Egyptian  medicine,  has  thrown  much 
light  on  early  Egyptian  practices.  It  shows  that 
an  important  part  of  the  treatment  prior  to  1552 
B.  C.,  consisted  in  the  laying  on  of  hands,  combined 
with  an  extensive  formulary  and  ceremonial  rites. 
The  physicians  were  the  priests,  and  among  the  in- 
teresting contents  of  this  manuscript  are  several 
formula?  to  be  used  as  prayers  while  compounding 
medicaments.  Some  of  the  prescriptions  given  here 
are  accompanied  by  exorcisms  which  were  to  be 
used  at  the  same  time.  Many  of  the  prescriptions 
could  have  had  little  but  mental  influence  because 
the  remedies  recommended  consisted  of  horrible 
mixtures  of  unsavory  ingredients,  the  theory,  if  we 
can  judge  by  the  medicines,  being  that  the  more  dis- 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  25 

gusting  the  dose  the  more  efficacious  the  remedy; 
this  is  true  from  a  mental  stand-point. 

Demonism  was  not  unknown;  in  fact,  it  underlay 
much  of  the  treatment.  People  did  not  die,  but  they 
were  assassinated.  The  murderer  might  belong  to 
this  or  to  the  spirit  world.  He  might  be  a  god,  a 
spirit,  or  the  soul  of  a  dead  man  that  had  cunningly 
entered  a  living  person.  The  physician  must  first 
discover  the  nature  of  the  possessing  spirit,  and  then 
attack  it.  Powerful  magic  was  the  weapon  used, 
and  the  healer  must  be  an  expert  in  reciting  incan- 
tations and  skilful  in  making  amulets.  On  ac- 
count of  this,  the  Egyptians  became  the  most  skilled 
in  magic  of  any  people,  and  have  their  equals  only 
in  the  Hindus  of  to-day.  The  experiences  of  Joseph 
and  Moses,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible,  give  us  some 
idea  of  their  skill  at  that  time.  After  the  exorcism 
the  physician  used  medicine  to  relieve  the  disorders 
which  the  presence  of  the  strange  being  had  pro- 
duced in  the  body. 

Maspe*ro  gives  us  the  following  information: 
"The  cure- workers  are  divided  into  several  cate- 
gories. Some  incline  towards  sorcery,  and  have 
faith  in  formulas  and  talismans  only;  they  think 
they  have  done  enough  if  they  have  driven  out  the 
spirit.  Others  extol  the  use  of  drugs;  they  study 
the  qualities  of  plants  and  minerals,  describe  the 
diseases  to  which  each  of  the  substances  provided 
by  nature  is  suitable,  and  settle  the  exact  time 


26  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

when  they  must  be  procured  and  applied;  certain 
herbs  have  no  power  unless  they  are  gathered 
during  the  night  at  the  full  moon,  others  are  effi- 
cacious in  summer  only,  another  acts  equally  well 
in  winter  or  summer.  The  best  doctors  carefully 
avoid  binding  themselves  exclusively  to  either 
method."  1 

Among  the  early  Egyptians  the  human  body 
was  divided  into  thirty-six  parts,  each  of  which  was 
thought  to  be  under  the  particular  government  of 
one  of  the  aerial  demons,  who  presided  over  the 
triple  divisions  of  the  twelve  signs.  The  priests 
practised  a  separate  invocation  for  each  genius, 
which  they  used  in  order  to  obtain  for  them  the 
cure  of  the  particular  member  confided  to  their 
care.  We  have  the  authority  of  Origen  for  saying 
that  in  his  time  when  any  part  of  the  body  was 
diseased,  a  cure  was  effected  by  invoking  the  demon 
to  whose  province  it  belonged.  Perhaps  this  is 
why  the  different  parts  of  the  body  were  assigned 
to  the  different  planets,  and  later  to  different  saints. 
It  undoubtedly  accounts  for  the  fact  that  an  Egyp- 
tian physician  treated  only  one  part  of  the  body 
and  refused  to  infringe  on  the  domain  of  his  brother 
physician. 

Incubation  was  commonly  practised  at  the  tem- 
ples of  Isis  and  Serapis  as  it  was  afterward  among 
the  Greeks.  This  "temple  sleep"  was  closely  akin 

1  G.  Masp^ro,  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria,  chap.  VII. 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  27 

in  its  effects  to  hypnotism  and  was  undoubtedly 
efficacious  in  the  case  of  some  diseases. 

The  Babylonian  system  of  therapeutics  was  not 
unlike  the  Egyptian  as  far  as  incantations  were  con- 
cerned. Many  of  these  have  been  discovered.  The 
formulas  usually  consist  of  a  description  of  the  dis- 
ease and  its  symptoms,  a  desire  for  deliverance  from 
it,  and  an  order  for  it  to  depart.  Some  draughts 
were  given  which  may  have  had  some  medicinal 
effect,  but  they  were  supposed  to  be  enchanted 
drinks.  Knots  were  supposed  to  have  some  magical 
effect  on  diseases,  and  conjurations  were  also  wrought 
by  the  power  of  numbers.  The  Book  of  Daniel 
shows  the  official  recognition  given  to  magicians, 
astrologers,  and  sorcerers. 

The  Jews  seem  to  have  got  their  early  medical 
knowledge  from  the  Egyptians,  and  changed  it  only 
in  so  far  as  their  religion  made  it  necessary,  for  with 
them  as  with  others  the  healing  art  was  a  part  of  the 
religion,  and  the  Levites  were  the  sole  practitioners. 
Much  valuable  medical  knowledge  was  mixed  with 
much  that  could  only  have  had  a  mental  influence. 
Disease  was  considered  a  punishment  for  sin,  and 
hence  the  cure  was  religious  rather  than  medical. 
The  disease  might  be  inflicted  by  God  direct,  and 
the  cure  would  be  a  proof  of  his  forgiveness;  it 
might  also  be  inflicted  by  Satan  or  the  spirits  of  the 
air  with  the  permission  of  Jehovah,  and  the  cure 
would  then  be  brought  about  by  exorcism. 


28  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  rather  elaborate 
system  of  demonology  among  the  Jews,  who  were  at 
one  time  the  chief  exponents  of  the  doctrine,  and 
consequently  the  principal  exorcists.  Among  the 
Jews  a  prominent  "demoness  of  sickness  is  Bath- 
Chorin.  She  touches  the  hands  and  lower  limbs  by 
night.  Many  diseases  are  caused  by  demons." 
According  to  Josephus,  "to  demons  may  be  ascribed 
leprosy,  rabies,  asthma,  cardiac  diseases,  nervous 
diseases,  which  last  are  the  specialty  of  evil  demons, 
such  as  epilepsy."  Incantations  were  in  use  among 
the  later  Jews,  and  amulets  of  neck-chains  like 
serpents  and  ear-rings  were  employed  to  protect 
the  wearers  against  the  evil  eye  and  similar 
troubles. 

In  India,  medicine  became  a  separate  science  very 
early,  according  to  the  sacred  books,  the  Vedas. 
Notwithstanding  this,  demonology  played  a  large 
part  in  the  production  of  disease  according  to  their 
theories,  and  religious  observances  were  helpful  in 
the  cures. 

Among  the  oldest  documents  which  we  possess 
relative  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  are  the  various 
treatises  contained  in  the  collection  which  bears  the 
name  of  Hippocrates  (460-375  B.  C.).  He  was  the 
first  physician  to  relieve  medicine  from  the  trammels 
of  superstition  and  the  delusions  of  philosophy. 

The  Greeks  undoubtedly  believed  in  demons,  but, 
different  from  the  nations  around  them,  considered 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  29 

the  demons  to  be  well-intentioned.  Homer  (c.  1000 
B.  C.)  speaks  frequently  of  demons,  and  in  one  in- 
stance in  the  Odyssey  tells  of  a  sick  man  pining 
away,  "one  upon  whom  a  hateful  demon  had  gazed." 
Empedocles  (c.  490-430  B.  C.)  taught  that  demons 
"were  of  a  mixed  and  inconstant  nature,  and  are 
subjected  to  a  purgatorial  process  which  may  finally 
end  in  their  ascension  to  higher  abodes."  Yet  he 
attributed  to  them  nearly  all  the  calamities,  vexa- 
tions, and  plagues  incident  to  mankind.  Plato 
(427-347  B.  C.)  writes  of  demons  good  and  bad, 
and  Aristotle  (384-322  B.  C.),  the  son  of  a  physi- 
cian, speaks  directly  of  "demons  influencing  and  in- 
spiring the  possessed."  Socrates  (470-399  B.  C.) 
claimed  to  have  continually  with  him  a  demon — a 
guardian  spirit. 

In  Greece,  in  early  days,  physicians  were  looked 
upon  as  gods.  Even  after  the  siege  of  Troy,  the 
sons  of  the  gods  and  the  heroes  were  alone  supposed 
to  understand  the  secrets  of  medicine  and  surgery. 
At  a  late  period  ^Esculapius,  the  son  of  Apollo,  was 
worshipped  as  a  deity.  When  we  speak  of  the  art  of 
healing  in  Greece,  one  naturally  thinks  of  the  ap- 
parent monopoly  of  the  ^Esclepiades,  who  minis- 
tered unto  the  Grecian  sick  for  centuries. 

The  original  seat  of  the  worship  of  ^Esculapius  was 
at  Epidaurus,  where  there  was  a  splendid  temple, 
adorned  with  a  gold  and  ivory  statue  of  the  god, 
who  was  represented  sitting,  one  hand  holding  a 


30  EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS 

staff,  the  other  resting  on  the  head  of  a  serpent,  the 
emblem  of  sagacity  and  longevity;  a  dog  crouched 
at  his  feet.  The  temple  was  frequented  by  harm- 
less serpents,  in  the  form  of  which  the  god  was  sup- 
posed to  manifest  himself.  According  to  Homer, 
his  sons,  Machaon  and  Podalirius,  who  were  great 
warriors,  treated  wounds  and  external  diseases  only; 
and  it  is  probable  that  their  father  practised  in  the 
same  manner,  as  he  is  said  to  have  invented  the 
probe  and  the  bandaging  of  wounds.  His  priests, 
the  jEsclepiades,  however,  practised  incantations, 
and  cured  diseases  by  leading  their  patients  to  be- 
lieve that  the  god  himself  delivered  his  prescriptions 
in  dreams  and  visions;  for  this  imposture  they  were 
roughly  satirized  by  Aristophanes  in  his  play  of 
"Plutus."  It  is  probable  that  the  preparations, 
consisting  of  abstinence,  tranquillity,  and  bathing, 
requisite  for  obtaining  the  divine  intercourse,  and, 
above  all,  the  confidence  reposed  in  the  ^Esclepiades, 
were  often  productive  of  benefit. 

The  excavations  of  Cavvadias  at  Epidaurus  have 
furnished  us  with  much  interesting  material  con- 
cerning the  cures  performed  at  this  ancient  shrine, 
five  hundred  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  If  the  modern  physician  still  recognizes 
^Esculapius  as  his  patron  saint,  he  must  have  great 
respect  for  mental  healing.  It  appears  certain  from 
inscriptions  found  upon  "stelae"  that  were  dug  up 
at  Epidaurus  and  published  in  1891,  that  the  system 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  31 

of  ^Esculapius  was  based  upon  the  miracle-working 
of  a  demi-god,  and  not  upon  medical  art  as  we  now 
know  it.  The  modus  operandi  was  unique  in  some 
details.  The  patients,  mostly  incurables,  .  came 
laden  with  sacrifices.  After  prayer,  they  cleansed 
themselves  with  water  from  the  holy  well,  and 
offered  up  sacrifices.  Certain  ceremonial  acts  were 
then  performed  by  the  priests,  and  the  patients  were 
put  to  sleep  on  the  skins  of  the  animals  offered  at  the 
altar,  or  at  the  foot  of  the  statue  of  the  divinity, 
while  the  priests  performed  further  sacred  rites. 
The  son  of  Apollo  then  appeared  to  them  in  dreams, 
attended  to  the  particular  ailments  of  the  sufferers, 
and  specified  further  sacrifices  or  acts  which  would 
restore  health.  In  many  cases  the  sick  awoke  sud- 
denly cured.  Large  sums  of  money  were  asked  for 
these  cures;  from  one  inscription  we  learn  that  a 
sum  corresponding  to  $12,000  was  paid  as  a  fee. 
The  record  of  the  cure  was  carved  on  the  temple  as 
at  Lourdes  to-day,  e.  g. : 

"Some  days  back,  a  certain  Caius,  who  was  blind, 
learned  from  an  oracle  that  he  should  repair  to  the 
temple,  put  up  his  fervent  prayers,  cross  the  sanc- 
tuary from  right  to  left,  place  his  five  fingers  on  the 
altar,  then  raise  his  hand  and  cover  his  eyes.  He 
obeyed,  and  instantly  his  sight  was  restored,  amid 
the  loud  acclamations  of  the  multitude.  These 
signs  of  the  omnipotence  of  the  gods  were  shown  in 
the  reign  of  Antoninus." 


32  EARLY   CIVILIZATIONS 

"A  blind  soldier,  named  Valerius  Apes,  having 
consulted  the  oracle,  was  informed  that  he  should 
mix  the  blood  of  a  white  cock  with  honey,  to  make 
up  an  ointment  to  be  applied  to  his  eyes  for  three 
consecutive  days.  He  received  his  sight,  and  re- 
turned public  thanks  to  the  gods." 

"Julian  appeared  lost  beyond  all  hope,  from  a 
spitting  of  blood.  The  gods  ordered  him  to  take 
from  the  altar  some  seeds  of  the  pine,  and  to  mix 
them  with  honey,  of  which  mixture  he  was  to  eat 
for  three  days.  He  was  saved,  and  came  to  thank 
the  gods  in  the  presence  of  the  people."  * 

It  was  not  until  five  centuries  later,  when  credulity 
concerning  miracles  was  on  the  wane,  that  the 
priests  began  to  study  and  to  apply  medical  means 
in  order  to  sustain  the  reputation  of  the  place,  and 
to  keep  up  its  enormous  revenues. 

Temples  similar  to  this  one  at  Epidaurus  existed 
at  numerous  places,  among  which  were  Rhodes, 
Cnidus,  Cos,  and  one  was  to  be  found  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber.  The  temple  at  Cos  was  rich  in  votive 
offerings,  which  generally  represented  the  parts  of 
the  body  healed,  and  an  account  of  the  method  of 
cure  adopted.  From  these  singular  clinical  records, 
Hippocrates,  a  reputed  descendant  of  ^Esculapius, 
is  reported  to  have  constructed  his  treatise  on 
Dietetics. 


1  E.  Berdoe,  "A  Medical  View  of  the  Miracles  at  Lourdes,"  Nine- 
teenth Century,  October,  1895. 


EARLY  CIVILIZATIONS  33 

For  a  long  time  after  the  age  of  Hercules  and  the 
heroic  times,  invalids  in  Greece  sought  relief  from 
their  sufferings  from  these  descendants  of  J^scula- 
pius  in  the  temples  of  that  god,  which  an  enlightened 
policy  had  raised  on  elevated  spots,  near  medicinal 
springs,  and  in  salubrious  vicinities.  Those  men 
who  pretended  in  right  of  birth  to  hold  the  gift  of 
curing,  finally  learned  the  art  of  it.  The  preserva- 
tion in  the  temple  of  the  history  of  those  diseases, 
the  cure  of  which  had  been  sought  by  them,  aided 
greatly  in  this  happy  culmination. 

Of  ^Esculapius  himself,  it  is  said  that  he  employed 
the  trumpet  to  cure  sciatica;  he  claimed  that  its 
continued  sound  made  the  fibres  of  the  nerves  to 
palpitate,  and  the  pain  vanished.  In  line  with  this 
treatment,  Democritus  affirmed  that  diseases  are 
capable  of  being  cured  by  the  sound  of  a  flute,  when 
properly  played. 

Herbs  were  also  used  among  the  Greeks,  but  al- 
most wholly  in  the  form  of  charms  rather  than  on 
account  of  what  we  claim  now  as  real  medicinal 
value.  For  example,  great  virtues  were  ascribed  to 
the  herb  alysson  which  was  pounded  and  eaten  with 
meat  to  cure  hydrophobia.  If  suspended  in  the 
house,  it  promoted  the  health  of  the  inmates  and 
protected  both  men  and  cattle  from  enchantments; 
when  bound  in  a  piece  of  scarlet  flannel  round  the 
necks  of  the  latter,  it  preserved  them  from  all 
diseases. 


34  EARLY   CIVILIZATIONS 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  independent  school 
of  Roman  medicine.  From  early  times  there  was  a 
very  complicated  system  of  superstitious  medicine, 
as  a  part  of  the  religion,  which  is  supposed  to  have 
been  borrowed  from  the  Etruscans.  This  compre- 
hended both  the  theory  and  cure  of  disease.  The 
Romans  got  along  for  centuries  without  doctors; 
in  fact,  doctors  were  a  Grecian  importation,  not 
made  until  about  two  centuries  before  Christ. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    INFLUENCE   OF    CHRISTIANITY 

"The  Alchemist  may  doubt  the  shining  gold 

His  crucible  pours  out, 
But  faith,  fanatic  faith,  once  wedded  fast 

To  some  dear  falsehood, 
Hugs  it  to  the  last." 

"Death  is  the  cure  of  all  diseases.  There  is  no  catholicon  or  uni- 
versal remedy  I  know,  but  this,  which  though  nauseous  to  queasy 
stomachs,  yet  to  prepared  appetites  is  nectar,  and  a  pleasant  potion 
of  immortality." — BROWNE. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  now  of  the  Devil: 
He's  no  such  horrid  creature;  cloven-footed, 
Black,  saucer-ey'd,  his  nostrils  breathing  fire, 
As  these  lying  Christians  make  him." — MASSINGEK. 

"If  the  cure  be  wrought,  what  matters  it  to  the  happy  invalid 
.  .  whether  the  cure  is  wrought  by  the  touch  of  the  Divine  hand 
or  the  overpowering  influence  of  a  great  idea  upon  the  nervous 
system?  If  our  hunger  be  appeased,  it  matters  little  whether  it  is 
by  manna  rained  down  from  heaven,  or  a  wheaten  loaf  raised  from 
the  harvest  field.  Miraculous  water  from  the  rock  does  not  quench 
the  thirst  better  than  that  which  bubbles  from  the  village  spring." 

— BERDOE. 

THE  advent  of  the  Christian  religion  into  the 
world,  while  purporting  to  minister  especially  to  the 
spiritual  life,  had  a  wide-reaching  and  potent  in- 
fluence on  the  art  of  healing  the  body.  We  cannot 
sum  up  the  effect  by  saying  that  this  influence  was 
either  wholly  good  or  bad — its  relation  to  therapeu- 
tics was  a  mixed  one.  It  can  be  truthfully  said  that 
nothing  has  retarded  the  science  of  medicine  during 

35 


36       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  past  two  thousand  years  so  much  as  the  iron 
grip  of  decadent  orthodoxy,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
no  power  has  caused  men  and  women  so  to  sacrifice 
time,  money,  and  even  life  itself  for  the  care  and 
nurture  of  the  sick,  as  the  example  and  precepts  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

For  eighteen  centuries  this  paradoxical  position 
was  held  by  the  church,  and  the  antithetical  atti- 
tudes of  hindrance  and  help  continued  to  exist.  As 
valuable  as  was  the  spirit  instilled  into  the  hearts 
of  His  followers  by  the  tenderness  of  the  Master,  it 
was  never  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  deterrent 
effects  of  the  religion  which  they  espoused.  The  re- 
tardation was  caused  by  two  related  beliefs  which 
permeated  the  church:  The  first  was  the  doctrine 
of  the  power  of  demons  in  the  lives  of  men,  especially 
in  the  production  of  disease;  and  the  second  was  the 
prevalence  of  the  idea  of  the  possibility  and  prob- 
ability of  the  performance  of  miracles,  particularly 
in  the  healing  of  diseases. 

A  rather  complicated  science  of  demonology  had 
come  down  from  primitive  sources  through  Egyptian, 
Babylonian,  and  Greek  civilization,  although  the 
demons  of  the  Greeks  were  principally  good  spirits. 
At  the  time  of  Christ,  however,  the  Jews  were  the 
most  ardent  advocates  of  demonology,  and  hence 
the  chief  exorcists.  They  expelled  demons  partly 
by  adjuration  and  partly  by  means  of  a  certain 
miraculous  root  named  Baaras.  They  considered 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        37 

it  nothing  at  all  out  of  the  ordinary  to  meet  men 
who  were  possessed  by  demons,  and  just  as  common 
an  experience  to  see  them  healed  by  having  the 
demon  exorcised.  Josephus  assures  us  that  in  the 
reign  of  Vespasian  he  had  himself  seen  a  Jew  named 
Eleazar  perform  an  exorcism;  by  means  of  adjura- 
tion and  the  Baaras  root  he  drew  a  demon  through 
the  nostrils  of  a  possessed  person,  who  fell  to  the 
ground  on  the  accomplishment  of  the  miracle,  while 
on  the  command  of  the  magician  the  demon,  to  prove 
that  it  had  really  left  its  victim,  threw  down  a  cup 
of  water  which  had  been  placed  at  a  distance. 

Knowing  as  we  do  the  close  relationship  between 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  it  does  not  surprise  us  to 
discover  that  the  Christians  inherited  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  Jews  in  this  matter.  This  is 
more  readily  understood  when  we  remember  the 
connection  of  Jesus  with  cases  of  demoniacal  pos- 
session, and  Paul's  frequent  references  to  the  spirits 
of  the  air.  Following  the  example  of  their  Master, 
Christians  everywhere  became  exorcists.  Through 
the  influence  of  Philo's  writings,  Jewish  demonology 
was  propagated  among  Christian  converts,  and  the 
Gnostics  quickly  absorbed  and  spread  the  notion  of 
preternatural  interposition.  Next  to  the  belief  in 
the  second  coming  of  Christ,  the  doctrine  which 
most  influenced  the  action  of  the  early  church  was 
that  of  a  spiritual  world  and  its  hierarchy.  Terres- 
trial things  were  ruled  by  all  sorts  of  spiritual  beings. 


38       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

Some  philosophers,  as  well  as  the  founders  of  dif- 
ferent religions,  expelled  demons,  and  the  Christians 
fully  recognized  the  power  possessed  by  the  Jewish 
and  gentile  exorcists;  the  followers  of  Christ,  how- 
ever, claimed  to  be  in  many  respects  the  superior  of 
all  others.  The  fathers  maintained  the  reality  of 
all  pagan  miracles  as  fully  as  their  own,  except  that 
doubt  was  sometimes  cast  on  some  forms  of  healing 
and  prophecy.  Demons  which  had  resisted  all  the 
enchantments  of  the  pagans  might  be  cast  out, 
oracles  could  be  silenced,  and  unclean  spirits  com- 
pelled to  acknowledge  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
faith  by  the  Christians,  who  simply  made  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  or  repeated  the  name  of  the  Master. 

The  power  of  the  Christian  exorcists  was  shown 
by  still  more  wonderful  feats.  Demons,  which  were 
sometimes  supposed  to  enter  animals,  were  expelled. 
St.  Hilarion  (288-371),  we  are  told,  courageously 
confronted  and  relieved  a  possessed  camel.  "The 
great  St.  Ambrose  [340-397]  tells  us  that  a  priest, 
while  saying  mass,  was  troubled  by  the  croaking  of 
frogs  in  a  neighboring  marsh;  that  he  exorcised 
them,  and  so  stopped  their  noise.  St.  Bernard 
[1091-1153],  as  the  monkish  chroniclers  tell  us, 
mounting  the  pulpit  to  preach  in  his  abbey,  was  in- 
terrupted by  a  crowd  of  flies;  straightway  the  saint 
uttered  the  sacred  formula  of  excommunication, 
when  the  flies  fell  dead  upon  the  pavement  in  heaps, 
and  were  cast  out  with  shovels!  A  formula  of  ex- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        39 

orcism  attributed  to  a  saint  of  the  ninth  century, 
which  remained  in  use  down  to  a  recent  period, 
especially  declares  insects  injurious  to  crops  to  be 
possessed  of  evil  spirits,  and  names,  among  the 
animals  to  be  excommunicated  or  exorcised,  moles, 
mice,  and  serpents.  The  use  of  exorcism  against 
caterpillars  and  grasshoppers  was  also  common.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  a  bishop  of  Lausanne,  find- 
ing that  the  eels  in  Lake  Leman  troubled  the  fish- 
ermen, attempted  to  remove  the  difficulty  by  exor- 
cism, and  two  centuries  later  one  of  his  successors 
excommunicated  all  the  May-bugs  in  the  diocese. 
As  late  as  1731  there  appears  an  entry  on  the  mu- 
nicipal register  of  Thonon  as  follows:  'Resolved,  that 
this  town  join  with  other  parishes  of  this  prov- 
ince in  obtaining  from  Rome  an  excommunication 
against  the  insects,  and  that  it  will  contribute  pro 
rata  to  the  expense  of  the  same.'" 

Scripture  was  cited  to  prove  the  diabolical  char- 
acter of  some  animals  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
Says  White:  "Did  anyone  venture  to  deny  that 
animals  could  be  possessed  by  Satan,  he  was  at  once 
silenced  by  reference  to  the  entrance  of  Satan  into 
the  serpent  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  to  the  cast- 
ing of  devils  into  swine  by  the  Founder  of  Christi- 
anity himself."  ' 

Notwithstanding  the  pleasing  theory  adopted  by 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
p.  113. 


40       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

the  earlier  Christian  writers  that  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness were  unable  to  harm  the  faithful  without  the 
permission  of  divinity,  to  whom  demoniacal  spirits 
were  ultimately  subjected,  unlimited  power  was 
conceded  to  those  beings  who  existed  under  divine 
sanction.  Demoniacal  aeons  or  emanations  were 
acknowledged  to  be  the  primitive  source  of  earthly 
sufferings,  pestilence  among  men,  sickness  and  other 
bodily  afflictions,  but  inflicted  with  the  consent  of 
God,  whose  messengers  they  were. 

Early  Christian  writers  boldly  asserted  that  all 
the  disorders  of  the  world  originated  with  the  devil 
and  his  sinister  companions,  because  they  were 
stirred  with  the  unholy  desire  to  obtain  associates 
in  their  miseries.  It  was  impossible  to  fix  a  limit 
to  the  number  of  these  malevolent  spirits  constantly 
provoking  diseases  and  infirmities  upon  men.  They 
were  alleged  to  surround  mankind  so  densely  that 
each  person  had  a  thousand  to  his  right  and  ten 
thousand  to  the  left  of  him.  Endowed  with  the 
subtlest  activity,  they  were  able  to  reach  the  re- 
motest points  of  earth  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

According  to  Salverte,  Tatian,  a  sincere  defender 
of  Christianity,  who  lived  in  the  second  century, 
"does  not  deny  the  wonderful  cures  effected  by  the 
priests  of  the  temples  of  the  Polytheists;  he  only 
attempts  to  explain  them  by  supposing  that  the 
pagan  gods  were  actual  demons,  and  that  they  intro- 
duced disease  into  the  body  of  a  healthy  man,  an- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        41 

nouncing  to  him,  in  a  dream,  that  he  should  be 
cured  if  he  implored  their  assistance;  and  then,  by 
terminating  the  evil  which  they  themselves  had  pro- 
duced, they  obtained  the  glory  of  having  worked  the 
miracle."  1 

So  firm  was  the  belief  that  Christians  could  exor- 
cise these  demons  that  from  the  time  of  Justin 
Martyr  (100-163),  for  about  two  centuries,  there  is 
not  a  single  Christian  writer  who  does  not  solemnly 
and  explicitly  assert  the  reality  and  frequent  em- 
ployment of  this  power.  In  his  Second  Apology, 
Justin  says:  "And  now  you  can  learn  this  from 
what  is  under  your  own  observation.  For  number- 
less demoniacs  throughout  the  whole  world,  and  in 
your  city,  many  of  our  Christian  men  exorcising 
them  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  cruci- 
fied under  Pontius  Pilate,  have  healed  and  do  heal, 
rendering  helpless  and  driving  the  possessing  demons 
out  of  the  men,  though  they  could  not  be  cured  by 
all  the  other  exorcists,  and  those  who  used  incanta- 
tions and  drugs." 

IrenaBus  (130-202)  held  that  mankind,  through 
transgressions  of  divine  command,  fell  absolutely 
from  the  time  of  Adam  into  the  power  of  Satan. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  assures  us  that  all  Christians 
possessed  the  power  of  working  miracles;  that  they 
prophesied,  cast  out  devils,  healed  the  sick,  and 
sometimes  even  raised  the  dead;  that  some  who  had 

1  E.  Salverte,  Philosophy  of  Magic  (trana.  Thompson),  II,  p.  94. 


42       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

been  thus  resuscitated  lived  for  many  years  among 
them,  and  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  reckon  the 
wonderful  acts  that  were  daily  performed.1 

Tertullian  (160-220)  insisted  that  a  malevolent 
angel  was  in  constant  attendance  upon  every  per- 
son, but  in  writing  to  the  pagans  in  a  time  of  per- 
secution he  challenged  his  opponents  to  bring  forth 
any  person  who  was  possessed  by  a  demon  or  any 
of  those  prophets  or  virgins  who  were  supposed  to 
be  inspired  by  a  divinity.  He  asserted  that  all 
demons  would  be  compelled  to  confess  their  dia- 
bolical character  when  questioned  by  any  Chris- 
tians, and  invited  the  pagans,  if  it  were  otherwise, 
to  put  the  Christian  immediately  to  death,  for  this, 
he  thought,  was  the  simplest  and  most  decisive 
demonstration  of  the  faith. 

Lecky  tells  us  of  the  attitude  of  the  fathers 
toward  demonism  in  the  following  words:  "Justin 
Martyr,  Origen,  Lactantius,  Athanasius,  and  Minu- 
cius  Felix,  all  in  language  equally  solemn  and  ex- 
plicit, call  upon  the  pagans  to  form  their  own 
opinions  from  the  confessions  wrung  from  their  own 
gods.  We  hear  from  them,  that  when  a  Christian 
began  to  pray,  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  or  to 
utter  the  name  of  his  Master  in  the  presence  of  a 
possessed  or  inspired  person,  the  latter,  by  screams 
and  frightful  contortions,  exhibited  the  torture  that 
was  inflicted,  and  by  this  torture  the  evil  spirit  was 

1  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  I,  p.  378. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY       43 

compelled  to  avow  its  nature.  Several  of  the 
Christian  writers  declare  that  this  was  generally 
known  to  pagans."  1 

Origen  (185-254)  said:  "It  is  demons  which 
produce  famine,  unfruitfulness,  corruptions  of  the 
air,  pestilence;  they  hover  concealed  in  clouds  in 
the  lower  atmosphere,  and  are  attracted  by  the 
blood  and  incense  which  the  heathen  offer  to  them 
as  gods."  He  thought,  though,  that  Raphael  had 
special  care  of  the  sick  and  the  infirm.  Cyprian 
(186-258)  charged  that  demons  caused  luxations 
and  fractures  of  the  limbs,  undermined  the  health, 
and  harassed  with  diseases.  Up  to  this  time  it  was 
the  privilege  of  any  Christian  to  exorcise  demons, 
but  Pope  Fabian  (236-250)  assigned  a  definite 
name  and  functions  to  exorcists  as  a  separate  order. 
To-day  the  priest  has  included  in  his  ordination 
vows  those  of  exorcist.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  (329- 
390)  declared  that  bodily  pains  are  provoked  by 
demons,  and  that  medicines  are  useless,  but  that 
demoniacs  are  often  cured  by  laying  on  of  conse- 
crated hands.  St.  Augustine  (354-430)  said:  "All 
diseases  of  Christians  are  to  be  ascribed  to  these 
demons;  chiefly  do  they  torment  fresh-baptized 
Christians,  yea,  even  the  guiltless  new-born  infants." 

Baltus 2  says:  "De  tous  les  anciens  auteurs  ec- 
cle*siastiques,  n'y  en  ayant  pas  un  qui  n'ait  parle  de 
ce  pouvoir  admirable  que  les  Chretiens  avoient  de 

1  Ibid.,  I,  p.  383.  *  Rtponse  a  I'histoire  des  oracles,  p.  296. 


44       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

chasser  les  demons,"  and  Gregory  of  Tours  (538- 
594)  says  that  exorcism  was  common  in  his  time, 
having  himself  seen  a  monk  named  Julian  cure  by 
his  words  a  possessed  person.  This  testimony  of 
Gregory's  concerning  the  prevalence  of  exorcisms 
at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  is  interesting  in  view 
of  the  facts  that  the  Council  of  Laodicea,  in  the 
fourth  century,  forbade  any  one  to  exorcise,  except 
those  duly  authorized  by  the  bishop,  and  that  in 
the  very  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  a  physician 
named  Posidonius  denied  the  existence  of  possession. 
The  fathers  of  the  church,  however,  ridiculed  the 
solemn  assertion  of  physicians  that  many  of  these 
alleged  demoniacal  infirmities  were  attributable  to 
material  agencies,  and  were  fully  persuaded  in  their 
own  minds  that  demons  took  possession  of  the 
organism  of  the  human  body. 

At  about  this  time,  such  a  broad-minded  man  as 
Gregory  the  Great  (540-604)  solemnly  related  that 
a  nun,  having  eaten  some  lettuce  without  making 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  swallowed  a  devil,  and  that, 
when  commanded  by  a  holy  man  to  come  forth,  the 
devil  replied:  "How  am  I  to  blame?  I  was  sitting 
on  the  lettuce,  and  this  woman,  not  having  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  ate  me  along  with  it."  This 
is  but  an  example  of  the  ideas  concerning  the  en- 
trance of  demons  into  the  possessed.1  Besides  the 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
p.  101. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        45 

possibility  of  being  taken  into  the  mouth  with  one's 
food,  they  might  enter  while  the  mouth  was  opened 
to  breathe.  Exorcists  were  therefore  careful  to 
keep  their  mouths  closed  when  casting  out  evil 
spirits,  lest  the  imps  should  jump  into  their  mouths 
from  the  mouths  of  the  patients.  Another  theory 
was  that  the  devil  entered  human  beings  during 
sleep,  and  at  a  comparatively  recent  period  a  king  of 
Spain,  Charles  II  (1661-1700),  kept  off  the  devil  while 
asleep  by  the  presence  of  his  confessor  and  two  friars.1 
Shortly  before  the  reign  of  Gregory,  there  came 
into  vogue  the  fashion  of  exorcising  demons  by 
means  of  a  written  formula  rather  than  by  the 
earlier  means  of  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  and 
invoking  the  name  of  Jesus.  The  theory  of  demon- 
ology  was  never  very  clear  nor  consistent.  By 
some  it  was  claimed  that  in  the  practice  of  the 
magical  arts  evil  spirits  provided  cure  for  sickness, 
others  maintained  that  they  could  not  heal  any 
diseases,  and  hence  the  true  test  of  Christianity  was 
the  ability  to  cure  bodily  ills.  A  compromise  posi- 
tion was  that  demons  were  only  successful  in  elim- 
inating diseases  which  they  had  themselves  caused. 
There  was  not  a  little  doubt  in  some  cases  about  the 
character  of  the  possessing  spirits,  and  it  behooved 
people  to  be  careful;  demons  might  use  men  as 
habitations,  and  while  posing  as  good  angels  vitiate 
health  and  provoke  disease. 

1  H.  T.  Buckle,  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  II,  p.  270. 


46       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

At  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  we  have 
an  account  of  an  exorcism  by  St.  Gall  (556-640), 
and  during  the  Carlovingian  age  the  healing  at 
Monte  Cassino  was  based  on  the  Satanic  origin  of 
disease.  When  the  conversion  of  northern  races  to 
Christianity  began,  demonology  received  a  stimulus. 
An  unlimited  number  of  demons,  similar  in  individu- 
ality and  prowess,  were  substituted  for  the  pagan 
demons,  and  the  pagan  gods  were  added  as  addi- 
tional demons.  When  proselytes  were  taken  into 
the  church,  care  was  taken  to  exorcise  all  evil 
spirits.  During  the  baptismal  service  the  Satanic 
hosts,  as  originators  of  sin,  vice,  and  maladies,  were 
expelled  by  insufflation  of  the  officiating  clergy- 
man, the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  the  invocation  of 
the  Triune  Deity.  The  earliest  formulas  for  such 
expulsion  directed  a  double  exhalation  of  the 
priest.1 

In  all  epidemics  of  the  Middle  Ages,  such  per- 
sons as  were  afflicted  by  pestilent  diseases  were 
declared  contaminated  by  the  devil,  and  carried  to 
churches  and  chapels,  a  dozen  at  a  time,  securely 
bound  together.  They  were  thrown  upon  the 
floor,  where  they  lay,  according  to  the  attestation 
of  a  pitying  chronicler,  until  dead  or  restored  to 
health. 

Unsound  mind  was  universally  accepted  as  a 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  201. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        47 

specific  distinction  of  diabolical  power,  and  caused 
by  the  corporeal  presence  of  an  impure  spirit. 
Imbeciles  and  the  insane  were,  throughout  the 
Middle  Ages,  especially  conceded  to  be  the  abode 
of  avenging  and  frenzied  demons.  In  aggravated 
cases,  the  actual  presence  of  the  medicinal  saint  was 
necessary;  in  less  vexatious  maladies,  the  bare  im- 
position of  hands,  accompanied  by  plaintive  prayer, 
quickly  healed  the  diseased.1 

As  early  as  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  Hip- 
pocrates of  Cos  asserted  that  madness  was  simply  a 
disease  of  the  brain,  but  notwithstanding  the  reit- 
eration of  this  scientific  truth  the  church  repudi- 
ated it,  and  as  late  as  the  Reformation,  Martin 
Luther  maintained  that  not  only  was  insanity 
caused  by  diabolical  influences,  but  that  "Satan 
produces  all  the  maladies  which  afflict  mankind." 
Even  much  later,  however,  when  other  diseases 
were  assigned  a  physical  origin,  insanity  was  still 
thought  to  be  demoniacal  possession.  As  late  as 
Bossuet's  time,  lunacy  was  thought  to  be  the  work 
of  demons.  The  cultured  and  progressive  Bishop 
of  Meaux,  while  trying  to  throw  off  the  shackles  of 
superstition,  delivered  and  published  two  great 
sermons  in  which  demoniacal  possession  is  de- 
fended. To  show  how  the  idea  has  clung,  notwith- 
standing the  advancement  and  enlightenment  of 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  this  subject,  see  A.  D.  White,  History  of 
the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II,  pp.  97-134. 


48       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

late  years,  we  may  notice  a  trial  which  took  place 
at  Wemding,  in  southern  Germany,  in  1892,  of 
which  White  tells  us. 

"A  boy  had  become  hysterical,  and  the  Capuchin 
Father  Aurelian  tried  to  exorcise  him,  and  charged 
a  peasant's  wife,  Frau  Herz,  with  bewitching  him, 
on  evidence  that  would  have  cost  the  woman  her 
life  at  any  time  during  the  seventeenth  century. 
Thereupon  the  woman's  husband  brought  suit 
against  Father  Aurelian  for  slander.  The  latter 
urged  in  his  defence  that  the  boy  was  possessed  of 
an  evil  spirit,  if  anybody  ever  was;  that  what  had 
been  said  and  done  was  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  Church,  as  laid  down  in 
decrees,  formulas,  and  rituals  sanctioned  by  popes, 
councils,  and  innumerable  bishops  during  ages.  All 
in  vain.  The  court  condemned  the  good  father  to 
fine  and  imprisonment."  * 

I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  in  this  connection 
the  now  famous  epitaph  of  Lord  Westbury's,  sug- 
gested by  the  decision  given  by  him  as  Lord  Chan- 
cellor in  the  case  against  Mr.  Wilson  in  which  it  was 
charged  that  the  latter  denied  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment.  The  court  decided  that  it  did  "not 
find  in  the  formularies  of  the  English  Church  any 
such  distinct  declaration  upon  the  subject  as  to  re- 
quire it  to  punish  the  expression  of  a  hope  by  a 
clergyman  that  even  the  ultimate  pardon  of  the 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
p.  128. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        49 

wicked  who  are  condemned  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment may  be  consistent  with  the  will  of  Almighty 
God."  The  following  is  the  epitaph: 

RICHARD  BARON  WESTBURY, 

Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England. 

He  was  an  eminent  Christian, 

An  energetic  and  merciful  Statesman, 

And  a  still  more  eminent  and  merciful  Judge. 

During  his  three  years'  tenure  of  office 
He  abolished  the  ancient  method  of  conveying  land, 
The  time-honored  institution  of  the  Insolvents'  Court, 

And 

The  Eternity  of  Punishment. 

Toward  the  close  of  his  earthly  career, 

In  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council, 

He  dismissed  Hell  with  costs, 
And  took  away  from  Orthodox  members  of  the 

Church  of  England 
Their  last  hope  of  everlasting  damnation."  ' 

In  the  Middle  Ages  there  was  a  strange  and  in- 
congruous mixture  of  medicine  and  exorcism.  No- 
tice the  following  prescriptions : 

"If  an  elf  or  a  goblin  come,  smear  his  forehead 
with  this  salve,  put  it  on  his  eyes,  cense  him  with 
incense,  and  sign  him  frequently  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross." 

"For  a  fiend-sick  man:  When  a  devil  possesses  a 
man,  or  controls  him  from  within  with  disease,  a 
spew-drink  of  lupin,  bishopwort,  henbane,  garlic. 
Pound  these  together,  add  ale  and  holy  water." 

1  Nash,  Life  of  Lord  Westbury,  II,  p.  78. 


50       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

"A  drink  for  a  fiend-sick  man,  to  be  drunk  out  of 
a  church  bell :  Githrife,  cynoglossum,  yarrow,  lupin, 
flower-de-luce,  fennel,  lichen,  lovage.  Work  up  to 
a  drink  with  clear  ale,  sing  seven  masses  over  it, 
add  garlic  and  holy  water,  and  let  the  possessed  sing 
the  Beati  Immaculati;  then  let  him  drink  the  dose 
out  of  a  church  bell,  and  let  the  priest  sing  over 
him  the  Domine  Sancte  Pater  Omnipotens"  * 

Three  methods  of  driving  out  demons  from  the 
insane  were  used:  the  main  weapon  against  the 
devil  and  his  angels  has  always  been  exorcism  by 
means  of  ecclesiastical  formula  and  signs.  These 
formulas  degenerated  at  one  time  to  the  vilest 
cursings,  threatenings,  and  vulgarities.  A  second 
means  was  by  an  effort  to  disgust  the  demon  and 
wound  his  pride.  This  might  simply  precede  the 
exorcism  proper.  To  accomplish  this  purpose  of 
offending  the  demons,  the  most  blasphemous  and 
obscene  epithets  were  used  by  the  exorcist,  which 
were  allowable  and  perfectly  proper  when  address- 
ing demons.  Most  of  these  are  so  indecent  that 
they  cannot  be  printed,  but  the  following  are 
some  examples: 

"Thou  lustful  and  stupid  one,  .  .  .  thou  lean 
sow,  famine-stricken  and  most  impure,  .  .  .  thou 
wrinkled  beast,  thou  mangy  beast,  thou  beast  of  all 
beasts  the  most  beastly,  .  .  .  thou  mad  spirit,  .  .  . 
thou  bestial  and  foolish  drunkard,  .  .  .  most  greedy 

1  Cockayne,  Leechdoms,  Wort-cunning,  and  Star-craft  of  Early 
England,  II,  p.  177. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        51 

wolf,  .  .  .  most  abominable  whisperer,  .  .  .  thou 
sooty  spirit  from  Tartarus!  ...  I  cast  thee  down, 
O  Tartarean  boor,  .  .  .  into  the  infernal  kitchen! 
.  .  .  Loathsome  cobbler,  .  .  .  dingy  collier,  .  .  . 
filthy  sow  (scrofa  stercorata),  .  .  .  perfidious  boar, 
.  .  .  envious  crocodile,  .  .  .  malodorous  drudge, 
.  .  .  wounded  basilisk,  .  .  .  rust-colored  asp,  .  .  . 
swollen  toad,  .  .  .  entangled  spider,  .  .  .  lousy 
swineherd  (porcarie  pedicose),  .  .  .  lowest  of  the 
low,  .  .  .  cudgelled  ass,"  etc.1 

The  pride  of  the  demon  was  also  to  be  wounded 
by  the  use  of  the  vilest-smelling  drugs,  by  trampling 
underfoot  and  spitting  upon  the  picture  of  the  devil, 
or  even  by  sprinkling  upon  it  foul  compounds. 
Some  even  tried  to  scare  the  demon  by  using  large- 
sounding  words  and  names. 

The  third  method  of  exorcism  was  punishment. 
The  attempt  was  frequently  made  to  scourge  the 
demon  out  of  the  body.  The  exorcism  was  more 
effective  if  the  name  of  the  demon  could  be  ascer- 
tained. If  successful  in  procuring  the  name,  it  was 
written  on  a  piece  of  paper  and  burned  in  a  fire  pre- 
viously blessed,  which  caused  the  demons  to  suffer 
all  the  torments  in  the  accompanying  exorcisms. 
All  forms  of  torture  were  employed,  and  in  the 
great  cities  of  Europe,  "witch  towers,"  where 
witches  and  demoniacs  were  tortured,  and  "fool 
towers,"  where  the  more  gentle  lunatics  were  im- 

1 M.  H.  Dziewicki,  "Exorcize  Te,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXIV,  p. 
580. 


52       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

prisoned,  may  still  be  seen.  The  treatment  of  the 
insane  in  the  Middle  Ages  is  one  of  the  darkest  blots 
on  the  growing  civilization. 

The  exorcism  being  completed,  when  some  of  the 
weaker  demons  were  put  to  flight  an  after  service 
was  held  in  which  everything  belonging  to  the  pa- 
tient was  exorcised,  so  that  the  demon  might  not 
hide  there  and  return  to  the  patient.  The  exor- 
cised demons  were  forbidden  to  return,  and  the 
demons  remaining  in  the  body  were  commanded  to 
leave  all  the  remainder  of  the  body,  and  to  descend 
into  the  little  toe  of  the  right  foot,  and  there  to  rest 
quietly. 

After  the  Reformation,  two  contests  shaped  them- 
selves in  the  matter  of  exorcisms.  The  Protestants 
and  the  Roman  Catholics  vied  with  each  other  in 
the  power,  rapidity,  and  duration  of  the  exorcisms. 
Both  put  forth  miraculous  claims,  and  with  as  much 
energy  denied  the  power  of  the  other.  They  agreed 
in  one  thing,  and  that  was  the  erroneous  position 
and  teaching  of  the  physicians.  This,  however, 
was  but  a  continuation  of  that  rivalry  between  the 
advancement  of  science  and  the  conservation  of 
theology,  which  is  as  old  as  history.  In  our  exam- 
ination of  the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  mental 
healing,  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  glance  at  the  dis- 
couraging attitude  of  Christianity  toward  medicine.1 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  this  subject,  see  A.  D.  White,  History  of 
the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II,  pp.  1-167. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY       53 

The  usurpation  of  healing  by  the  church,  which 
was  a  most  serious  drawback  to  the  therapeutic  art, 
will  be  traced  in  the  following  chapters;  there  are, 
however,  some  other  ways  in  which  the  church  re- 
tarded the  work  of  physicians.  Chief  among  these 
was  the  theory  propagated  by  Christians  that  it  was 
unlawful  to  meddle  with  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 
This  theory  came  down  from  ancient  times,  but  was 
eagerly  accepted  by  the  church,  principally  on  ac- 
count of  the  doctrine  of  the  bodily  resurrection. 
In  addition  to  this,  surgery  was  forbidden  because 
the  Church  of  Rome  adopted  the  maxim  that  "the 
church  abhors  the  shedding  of  blood."  A  recent 
English  historian  has  remarked  that  of  all  organiza- 
tions in  human  history,  the  Church  of  Rome  has 
caused  the  spilling  of  most  innocent  blood,  but  it 
refused  to  allow  the  surgeons  to  spill  a  drop. 

Monks  were  prohibited  the  practice  of  surgery  in 
1248,  and  by  subsequent  councils,  and  all  dissections 
were  considered  sacrilege.  Surgery  was  considered 
dishonorable  until  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth  centuries. 
The  use  of  medicine  was  also  discouraged.  Down 
through  the  centuries  a  few  churchmen  and  many 
others,  especially  Jews  and  Arabs,  took  up  the  study. 
The  church  authorities  did  everything  possible  to 
thwart  it.  Supernatural  means  were  so  abundant 
that  the  use  of  drugs  was  not  only  irreligious  but 
superfluous.  Monks  who  took  medicine  were  pun- 
ished, and  physicians  in  the  thirteenth  century 


could  not  treat  patients  without  calling  in  ecclesi- 
astical advice. 

We  are  told  that  in  the  reign  of  Philip  II  of  Spain 
a  famous  Spanish  doctor  was  actually  condemned 
by  the  Inquisition  to  be  burnt  for  having  performed 
a  surgical  operation,  and  it  was  only  by  royal  favor 
that  he  was  permitted  instead  to  expiate  his  crime 
by  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  where  he  died  in 
poverty  and  exile. 

This  restriction  was  continued  for  three  centu- 
ries, and  consequently  threw  medical  work  into  the 
hands  of  charlatans  among  Christians,  and  of  Jews. 
The  clergy  of  the  city  of  Hall  protested  that  "it  were 
better  to  die  with  Christ  than  to  be  cured  by  a  Jew 
doctor  aided  by  the  devil."  The  Jesuit  professor, 
Stengal,  said  that  God  permits  illness  because  of  His 
wish  to  glorify  Himself  through  the  miracles  wrought 
by  the  church,  and  His  desire  to  test  the  faith  of  men 
by  letting  them  choose  between  the  holy  aid  of  the 
church  and  the  illicit  resort  to  medicine. 

There  was  another  reason  for  the  antagonism 
of  the  church  to  physicians;  the  physicians  in 
this  case  were  inside  the  church.  The  monks  con- 
verted medicine  to  the  basest  uses.  In  connection 
with  the  authority  of  the  church,  it  was  employed 
for  extorting  money  from  the  sick.  They  knew 
little  or  nothing  about  medicine,  so  used  charms, 
amulets,  and  relics  in  healing.  The  ignorance  and 
cupidity  of  the  monks  led  the  Lateran  Council,  un- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        55 

der  the  pontificate  of  Calixtus  II,  in  1123,  to  forbid 
priests  and  monks  to  attend  the  sick  otherwise  than 
as  ministers  of  religion.  It  had  little  or  no  effect, 
so  that  Innocent  II,  in  a  council  at  Rheims  in  1131, 
enforced  the  decree  prohibiting  the  monks  frequent- 
ing schools  of  medicine,  and  directing  them  to  con- 
fine their  practice  to  their  own  monasteries.  They 
still  disobeyed,  and  a  Lateran  Council  in  1139 
threatened  all  who  neglected  its  orders  with  the 
severest  penalties  and  suspension  from  the  exercise 
of  all  ecclesiastical  functions;  such  practices  were 
denounced  as  a  neglect  of  the  sacred  objects  of  their 
profession  in  exchange  for  ungodly  lucre.  When 
the  priests  found  that  they  could  no  longer  confine 
the  practice  of  medicine  to  themselves,  it  was  stig- 
matized and  denounced.  At  the  Council  of  Tours 
in  1163,  Alexander  III  maintained  that  through 
medicine  the  devil  tried  to  seduce  the  priesthood, 
and  threatened  with  excommunication  any  eccle- 
siastic who  studied  medicine.  In  1215,  Innocent 
III  fulminated  an  anathema  against  surgery  and 
any  priest  practising  it.  Even  this  was  not  effect- 
ual.1 

What  we  see  in  connection  with  dissection  and 
surgery  and  medicine  was  repeated  at  a  later  date 
with  inoculation,  vaccination,  and  anesthetics. 
There  were  the  same  objections  by  the  church  on 

1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Surgery  and  Medicine,  pp.  51  f. 


56       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

theological  grounds,  the  same  stubborn  battle,  and 
the  same  inevitable  defeat  of  the  theological  position. 

So  long  as  disease  was  attributed  to  a  demoniacal 
cause,  so  long  did  exorcisms  and  other  miraculous 
cures  continue,  and  so  far  as  these  cures  were  effi- 
cacious, they  must  be  classed  as  mental  healing. 
Probably  they  continued  longer  in  insanity  and 
mental  derangement  on  account  of  the  beneficent 
and  soothing  effect  of  religion  upon  a  diseased  mind. 
Priestly  cures  of  all  kinds  were  largely,  if  not  wholly, 
suggestive,  and  no  history  of  mental  healing  would 
be  complete  without  a  resume  of  ecclesiastical  thera- 
peutics. Many  vagaries  of  healing  which  the  church 
introduced  might  be  mentioned  to  show  to  what  ex- 
tent the  people  may  be  misled  in  the  name  of  re- 
ligion. For  example,  the  doctrine  of  signatures,  to 
be  later  discussed,  was  disseminated  by  priests  and 
monks,  and  if  these  medicines  were  ever  effective  it 
must  have  been  by  mental  means. 

The  demon  theory  of  disease,  which  began  before 
the  age  of  history,  and  continued  down  through  the 
savage  ages  and  religions,  through  the  early  civiliza- 
tions, through  the  gospel  history,  and  dominated 
early  Christianity,  was  finally,  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, to  be  vigorously  assailed  and  largely  overcome. 
The  cost  of  this  was  considerable;  attached  as  it  was 
to  the  Christian  church,  it  seemed  necessary  to  de- 
stroy the  whole  Christian  fabric  in  order  to  unravel 
this  one  thread.  Atheism;  therefore,  was  rampant, 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY        57 

and  science  and  atheism  became  almost  synonymous, 
and  continued  so  until  the  church  freed  science  from 
its  centuries  of  bondage  and  allowed  it  to  develop 
so  as  to  be  again  in  these  days  a  co-laborer. 

In  pleasing  contrast  to  the  destructive  and  deter- 
rent efforts  of  the  church  against  the  development 
of  medicine  is  the  helpful  care  of  the  sick  exer- 
cised by  Christians.  The  example  of  Jesus  as 
shown  by  his  tender  sympathy,  his  helpful  acts, 
and  his  instruction  to  his  followers,  bore  fruit  in 
the  relief  and  care  of  sufferers  by  individuals  and 
religious  asylums.  About  the  year  1000  and  later, 
the  infirmaries  which  were  attached  to  numerous 
monasteries,  and  the  hospitia  along  the  routes  of 
travel  which  opened  their  doors  to  sick  pilgrims, 
were  but  the  development  of  a  less  portentous  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  individuals  and  societies  to 
care  for  the  sick.  The  Knights  of  St.  John,  or  the 
Hospitalers  as  they  were  called,  assumed  as  their 
special  duty  the  nursing  and  doctoring  of  those  in 
need  of  such  attention,  especially  of  sick  and  in- 
firm pilgrims  and  crusaders. 

Hospitals  for  the  sick,  orphanages  for  foundlings, 
and  great  institutions  for  the  proper  care  of  paupers 
developed  with  immense  strides,  and  during  the 
twelfth  century  expanded  into  gigantic  proportions. 
In  the  ensuing  age,  the  mediaeval  mind  was  fired 
with  a  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  unstinted  charity; 
members  of  society,  from  holy  pontiff  to  the  hum- 


58       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

blest  recluse  by  the  wayside,  rivalled  each  other  in 
gratuities  of  clothing  and  food,  founding  of  hospitals, 
and  endowment  of  beneficent  public  institutions. 
St.  Louis's  highest  claim  to  pious  glory  arose  from 
his  restless  and  unstinted  charities  to  the  indigent 
and  sick.  Even  the  lepers,  which  were  shunned  or 
segregated,  were  treated  by  Christian  institutions; 
and  saints  and  saintesses  found  pious  expression 
for  their  humility  in  personal  attendance  and  even 
loving  embraces  of  these  unsightly  beings  covered 
with  repulsive  sores.  For  the  last  millennium  there 
has  not  been  a  time  when  Christian  love  and  benev- 
olence have  not  sought  the  opportunity  of  minister- 
ing to  the  sick. 

One  can  easily  recognize  the  effect  which  this  fact 
would  have  on  mental  healing.  The  church  fostered 
the  ideas  of  exorcism  and  the  cures  by  relics  and 
shrines,  and  deprecated  the  use  of  medicine.  If  the 
hospitals  and  infirmaries  were  almost  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  the  monks  and  churchmen,  there  was  little 
hope  for  the  development  of  other  than  ecclesias- 
tical mental  healing.  The  untold  good  which  Chris- 
tian ministrations  to  the  sick  accomplished  must 
be  acknowledged,  but  it  was  not  an  unmixed  benefit 
to  the  race  as  a  whole. 

We  may  more  easily  see,  perhaps,  the  connection 
between  the  church  and  the  development  of  medi- 
cine, and  the  despotic  power  of  the  church  in  this 
regard,  when  we  remember  that  physicians  were 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY       59 

formerly  a  part  of  the  clergy,  and  it  was  not  until 
1542  that  the  papal  legate  in  France  gave  them  per- 
mission to  marry.  In  1552  the  doctors  in  law  obtained 
like  permission.  An  early  priestly  physician  has  sur- 
vived to  fame  by  the  name  of  Elpideus,  sometimes 
confused  with  Elpidius  Rusticus.  He  was  both  a 
deacon  of  the  church  and  a  skilled  surgeon,  and  was 
very  favorably  mentioned  by  St.  Ennodius  as  a 
person  of  fine  culture.  He  was  sufficiently  dex- 
terous and  skilful  to  heal  the  Gothic  ruler,  Theo- 
doric,  of  a  grievous  illness.1  Salverte  gives  us  addi- 
tional examples:  "Richard  Fitz-Nigel,  who  died 
Bishop  of  London,  in  1198,  had  been  apothecary  to 
Henry  II.  The  celebrated  Roger  Bacon,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  thirteenth  century,  although  a  monk, 
yet  practised  medicine.  Nicolas  de  Faraham,  a 
physician  to  Henry  III,  was  created  Bishop  of 
Durham;  and  many  doctors  of  medicine  were  at 
various  times  elevated  to  ecclesiastical  dignities."  2 
The  grip  of  the  church  accomplished  its  purpose, 
and  science,  especially  the  science  of  medicine,  was 
strangled,  almost  to  the  death.  Even  the  people 
of  the  time  recognized  the  shortcomings  of  the  phy- 
sicians. Henricus  Cornelius  Agrippa  (1486-1535), 
writing  in  1530,  said  with  pleasant  irony  that  physic 
was  "a  certaine  Arte  of  manslaughter,"  and  that 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Ecoiwmy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
pp.  142  f. 

8  E.  Salverte,  Philosophy  of  Magic  (trans.  Thompson),  II,  p.  96. 


60       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

"well  neare  alwaies  there  is  more  daunger  in  the 
Physition  and  the  Medicine  than  in  the  sicknesse 
itself e."  He  also  gives  the  following  picture  of  a 
fashionable  doctor  of  his  time:  "Clad  in  brave  ap- 
paraile,  having  ringes  on  his  fingers  glimmeringe 
with  pretious  stoanes,  and  which  hath  gotten  fame 
and  credence  for  having  been  in  farre  countries,  or 
having  an  obstinate  manner  of  vaunting  with  stiffe 
lies  that  he  hath  great  remedies,  and  for  having  con- 
tinually in  his  mouth  many  wordes  halfe  Greeke 
and  barbarous.  .  .  .  But  this  will  prove  to  be  true, 
that  Physitians  moste  commonlye  be  naught.  They 
have  one  common  honour  with  the  hangman,  that 
is  to  saye,  to  kill  menne  and  to  be  recompensed 
therefore."  l 

1  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  151. 

For  further  references  to  the  effect  of  demonism,  see  J.  F.  Nevius, 
Demon  Possession  and  Allied  Themes;  J.  M.  Peebles,  The  Demonism 
of  the  Ages  and  Spirit  Obsessions;  articles  on  "  Demon,"  "  Demonism," 
"Demoniacal  Possession,"  and  "Devil,"  in  the  Catholic  Encyclo- 
pedia, the  New  International  Encyclopedia,  and  the"  Encyclopedia 
Britannica. 


CHAPTER  IV 
RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

"A  fouth  o'  auld  knick-knackets, 
Rusty  aim  caps  and  jinglin'  jackets, 
Wad  baud  the  Lothians  three,  in  tackets, 

A  towmond  guid; 
An'  parritch  pats,  and  auld  saut  backets, 

Afore  the  flood." — BURNS. 

"For  to  that  holy  wood  is  consecrate 
A  virtuous  well,  about  whose  flowery  banks 
The  nimble-footed  fairies  dance  their  rounds 
By  the  pale  moonshine,  dipping  oftentimes 
Their  stolen  children,  so  to  make  them  free 
From  dying  flesh  and  dull  mortality." — FLETCHER. 

"Ne  was  ther  such  another  pardoner, 
For  in  his  male  he  hadde  a  pilwebeer, 
Which  that  he  saide  was  oure  lady  veyl; 
He  seide,  he  hadde  a  gobet  of  the  seyl 
That  seynt  Peter  hadde,  whan  that  he  wente 
Uppon  the  see,  til  Jhesu  Crist  him  pente. 
He  hadde  a  cros  of  latoun  ful  of  stones, 
And  in  a  glas  he  hadde  pigges  bones. 
But  with  these  reliques,  whanne  that  he  fond 
A  poure  persoun  dwelling  uppon  lond, 
Upon  a  day  he  gat  him  more  moneye 
Than  that  the  persoun  gat  in  monthes  tweye. 
And  thus  with  feyned  flaterie  and  japes, 
He  made  the  persoun  and  the  people  his  apes." 

— CHAUCER. 

A  WIDE-SPKEAD  movement  developed  in  the  early 
church  as  a  result  of  which  innumerable  miracles  of 
healing  were  credited  to  the  power  of  saints,  in- 
directly through  the  medium  of  streams  and  pools 
of  water  which  were  reputed  to  have  some  connec- 

61 


62  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

tion  with  a  particular  saint,  or  through  the  efficacy 
still  clinging  to  the  relics  of  holy  persons. 

On  account  of  the  growth  of  the  belief  in  demon- 
ism  in  the  Christian  church,  and  the  need  of  super- 
natural means  to  counteract  diabolic  diseases, 
saintly  relics  came  into  common  use  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  afterward  when  demonism  was  not  so 
thoroughly  credited  as  the  cause  of  diseases,  relics 
were  still  considered  to  hold  their  power  over  physi- 
cal infirmities.  In  addition  to  this,  the  missionary 
efforts  and  successes  of  the  church  had  some  influ- 
ence in  establishing  and  continuing  cures  by  relics 
and  similar  means.  The  missionaries  found  that 
their  converts  had  formerly  employed  various  amu- 
lets and  charms  for  the  healing  of  diseases,  and 
that  they  continued  to  have  great  faith  in  them  for 
that  purpose.  To  wean  them  from  their  heathen 
customs,  Christian  amulets  and  charms  had  to  be 
substituted,  or,  as  was  sometimes  the  case,  the 
heathen  fetich  was  continued,  but  with  a  Christian 
significance. 

The  early  Scandinavians  carried  effigies  carved 
out  of  gold  or  silver  as  safeguards  against  disease, 
or  applied  those  made  out  of  certain  other  materials, 
as  the  mandragora  root  or  linen  or  wood,  to  the  dis- 
eased part  as  a  cure  of  physical  infirmities.  Some 
of  these  images  were  carried  over  into  Christianity, 
for  in  Charlemagne's  time,  headache  was  frequently 
cured  by  following  the  saintly  recommendation  to 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  63 

shape  the  figure  of  a  head  and  place  it  on  a  cross. 
Fort  tells  us  that  "The  introduction  of  Christianity 
among  the  Teutonic  races  offered  no  hindrance  to  a 
perpetuation,  under  new  forms,  of  those  social  ob- 
servances with  which  Norse  temple  idolatry  was  so 
intimately  associated.  Offering  to  proselytes  an 
unlimited  number  of  demoniacal  seons,  similar  in 
individuality  and  prowess  to  those  peopling  the  in- 
visible universe,  Northern  mythology  readily  united 
with  Christian  demonology."  1 

The  relics  of  the  saints  came  to  be  the  favorite 
substitute  for  the  heathen  charms.  With  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  demoniacal  cause  of  disease,  exor- 
cism by  relics  gradually  grew  in  importance  until 
it  was  firmly  established  and  a  preferred  form  in 
the  sixth  and  subsequent  centuries.  Down  to  this 
time  there  still  existed  a  feeble  recognition  of  a  pos- 
sible system  adapted  to  the  cure  of  maladies,  so  far, 
perhaps,  as  the  practice  was  restricted  to  municipal- 
ities. The  rapid  advancement  of  saintly  remedies, 
consecrated  oils,  and  other  puissant  articles  of  eccle- 
siastical appliance,  enabled  and  encouraged  numer- 
ous churchmen  to  exercise  the  ^Esculapian  art;  this, 
together  with  the  ban  put  upon  physicians  and  sci- 
entific means,  soon  gave  the  church  the  monopoly 
of  healing.  Perhaps  the  most  thorough  attestation 
of  the  contempt  into  which  physicians  had  fallen, 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  201. 


64  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

compared  with  saintly  medicists,  is  the  fact  that 
cures  were  invariably  attempted  after  earthly  medi- 
cine had  been  exhausted.1 

Islam,  Buddhism,  and  other  religions  have  their 
shrines  where  some  pilgrims  are  undoubtedly  cured, 
but  Christianity  seems  to  have  had  the  most  varied 
and  numerous  collection.  As  early  as  the  latter 
part  of  the  fourth  century  miraculous  powers  were 
ascribed  to  the  images  of  Jesus  and  the  saints  which 
adorned  the  walls  of  most  of  the  churches  of  the 
time,  and  tales  of  wonderful  cures  were  related  of 
them.  The  intercessions  of  saints  were  invoked, 
and  their  relics  began  to  work  miracles.2 

St.  Cyril,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  and  others 
of  the  early  church  fathers  of  note  maintained  that 
the  relics  of  the  saints  had  great  efficacy  in  the  cure 
of  diseases.  St.  Augustine  tells  us:  "Besides  many 
other  miracles,  that  Gamaliel  in  a  dream  revealed  to 
a  priest  named  Lacianus  the  place  where  the  bones 
of  St.  Stephen  were  buried;  that  those  bones  being 
thus  discovered,  were  brought  to  Hippo,  the  diocese 
of  which  St.  Augustine  was  bishop;  that  they  raised 
five  persons  to  life;  and  that,  although  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  miraculous  cures  they  effected  had  been 
registered,  the  certificates  drawn  up  in  two  years 
in  the  diocese,  and  by  the  orders  of  the  saint,  were 
nearly  seventy.  In  the  adjoining  diocese  of  Calama 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  142  and  156. 

*  G.  P.  Fisher,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  p.  117. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  65 

they  were  incomparably  more  numerous."  l  This 
great  and  intellectual  man  also  mentions  and  evi- 
dently credits  the  story  that  some  innkeeper  of  his 
time  put  a  drug  into  cheese  which  changed  trav- 
ellers who  partook  of  it  into  domestic  animals,  and 
he  further  asserts  after  a  personal  test  that  pea- 
cock's flesh  will  not  decay. 

St.  Ambrose  declared  that  "the  precepts  of  medi- 
cine are  contrary  to  celestial  science,  watching,  and 
prayer."  When  the  conflict  between  St.  Ambrose 
and  the  Arian  Empress  Justina  was  at  its  height,  the 
former  declared  that  it  had  been  revealed  to  him  that 
relics  were  buried  in  a  certain  spot  which  he  indicated. 
When  the  earth  was  removed,  there  was  exposed  a 
tomb  filled  with  blood,  and  containing  two  gigantic 
skeletons  with  their  heads  severed  from  their  bodies. 
These  were  pronounced  to  be  the  remains  of  St. 
Gervasius  and  St.  Protasius,  two  martyrs  of  gigantic 
physical  proportions,  who  were  said  to  have  been 
beheaded  about  three  centuries  before.  To  prove 
beyond  doubt  the  genuineness  of  these  relics,  a 
blind  man  was  restored  to  sight  by  coming  in  con- 
tact with  them,  and  demoniacs  were  also  cured 
thereby.  Before  being  exorcised,  however,  the 
demons,  who  were  supposed  to  have  supernatural 
and  indubitable  knowledge,  declared  that  the  relics 
were  genuine;  that  St.  Ambrose  was  the  deadly 
enemy  of  hell ;  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was 

1  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  I,  pp.  378  f. 


66  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

true;  and  that  those  who  rejected  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  damned.  To  be  sure  that  the  testimony 
of  the  demons  should  have  its  proper  weight  in  the 
controversy,  on  the  following  day  St.  Ambrose  de- 
livered an  invective  against  all  who  questioned  the 
miracle.1 

Late  researches  concerning  the  Catacombs  of 
Rome  have  thrown  much  light  upon  the  early  use 
of  relics.  The  former  opinion  of  the  Catacombs  was 
that  they  were  used  for  secret  worship  by  the  per- 
secuted Christians,  but  now  we  know  that  they  were 
burial-places  under  the  protection  of  Roman  law, 
with  entrances  opening  on  the  public  roads.  Their 
chapels  and  altars  were  for  memorial  and  communion 
services.  Great  reverence  was  felt  for  the  bodies  of 
all  Christians,  so  that  for  the  first  seven  centuries 
the  bodies  were  not  disturbed,  and  relics,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word,  were  unknown.  People 
prayed  at  the  tombs,  or  if  they  wished  to  take  some- 
thing away,  they  touched  the  tomb  with  a  handker- 
chief, or  else  they  took  some  oil  from  the  lamps 
which  marked  the  tombs.  These  mementos  were 
regarded  as  true  relics,  so  that  when  the  Lombard 
Queen,  Theodelinda,  sent  the  abbot  John  for  relics 
to  put  in  her  cathedral  at  Monza,  he  came  back  with 
over  seventy  little  vials  of  oil,  each  with  the  name  of 
the  saint  from  whose  tomb  the  oil  was  procured, 
and  many  of  them  are  still  preserved. 

1  Ibid.,  I,  p.  379. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  67 

The  oil  from  altar  lamps  was  of  therapeutic 
value,  as  St.  Chrysostom  tells  us  in  speaking  of  the 
superiority  of  the  church  over  ordinary  houses. 
"For  what  is  here,"  he  asks,  "that  is  not  great  and 
awful?  Thus  both  this  Table  [the  altar]  is  far  more 
precious  and  delightful  than  that  [any  table  at  home], 
and  this  lamp  than  that;  and  this  they  know,  as 
many  as  have  put  away  diseases  by  anointing  them- 
selves with  oil  in  faith  and  due  season."  If  the 
body  of  a  saint  lay  beneath  the  altar,  the  oil  was 
then  known  as  the  "Oil  of  the  Saints,"  and  was 
even  more  efficacious  for  healing.  Notice  the  follow- 
ing quotations  on  the  subject  taken  from  Dearmer's 
work. 

"Far  more  common  are  stories  of  healing  by  oil 
from  a  lamp  burnt  in  honor  of  Christ  or  the  saints. 
The  following  examples  are  from  the  East.  The 
wounded  hand  of  a  Saracen  was  healed  by  oil  from  a 
lamp  before  the  icon  of  St.  George." 

"St.  Cyrus  and  St.  John  appeared  to  a  person 
suffering  from  gout,  and  bade  him  take  a  little  oil 
in  a  small  ampulla  from  the  lamp  that  burnt  before 
the  image  of  the  Saviour,  in  the  great  tetrapyle  at 
Alexandria,  and  anoint  his  feet  with  it." 

"Similar  stories  are  found  in  Western  writers. 
Thus  Nicetius  of  Lyons,  by  means  of  the  oil  of  the 
lamp  which  burnt  daily  at  his  sepulchre,  restored 
sight  to  the  blind,  drove  demons  from  bodies  pos- 
sessed, restored  soundness  to  shrunken  limbs,"  etc. 

"An  epileptic  was  cured  by  oil  from  the  lamp 
that  burnt  night  and  day  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Sev- 


erm." 


68  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

"It  was  revealed  to  a  blind  woman,  that  oil  from 
the  lamp  of  St.  Genevieve  would  restore  her  sight, 
if  the  warden  of  the  church  were  to  anoint  her  with 
it.  A  week  after  she  brought  a  blind  man,  who  was 
healed  in  the  same  manner."  l 

At  the  time  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  application  was 
made  of  sainted  reliquaries  as  a  remedy  against  the 
devil  and  his  demons.  Gregory  narrates  the  mirac- 
ulous efficacy  of  a  small  pellet  of  wax,  taken  from 
the  tomb  of  St.  Martin,  in  extinguishing  an  incen- 
diary fire  started  by  his  Satanic  majesty,  which  was 
instigated  by  malicious  envy,  because  this  omnipotent 
talisman  was  in  the  custody  of  an  ecclesiastic!  This 
Turonese  bishop  records  many  instances  of  cures 
being  effected  at  Martin's  tomb.  He  himself  was 
relieved  of  severe  pains  in  the  head  by  touching  the 
disordered  spot  with  the  sombre  pall  of  St.  Martin's 
sepulchre.  This  remedy  was  applied  on  three  dif- 
ferent occasions  with  equal  success.  Once  he  was 
cured  of  an  attack  of  mortal  dysentery  by  simply 
dissolving  into  a  glass  of  water  a  pinch  of  dust  scraped 
from  the  tomb  of  St.  Martin  and  drinking  the  strange 
concoction.  At  another  time,  his  tongue  having 
become  swollen  and  tumefied,  it  was  restored  to  its 
natural  size  and  condition  by  licking  the  railing  of 
the  tomb  of  this  saint.  He  knew  of  others  who  had 
been  equally  successful.  An  archdeacon,  named 
Leonastes  had  sight  restored  to  his  blind  eyes  at  the 

1  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  pp.  268  f. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  69 

tomb  of  St.  Martin,  but  unfortunately  the  fact  that 
he  later  applied  to  an  Israelitish  physician  caused 
his  infirmity  to  return.  Even  a  toothache  was 
cured  by  St.  Martin's  relics. 

The  following  is  an  apostrophe  to  the  relics  of  St. 
Martin  by  Bishop  Gregory:  "Oh  ineffable  theriac! 
ineffable  pigment!  admirable  antidote!  celestial 
purge!  superior  to  all  drugs  of  the  faculty!  sweeter 
than  aromatics!  stronger  than  unguents  together; 
thou  cleanest  the  stomach  like  scammony,  the  lungs 
like  hyssop,  thou  purgest  the  head  like  pyre-thrig!"  1 

From  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  the  exercise  of 
the  medical  art  was  almost  exclusively  appropriated 
by  cloisters  and  monasteries,  whose  occupants  boldly 
vended  the  miraculous  remedial  properties  of  relics, 
chrism,  baptismal  fluids,  holy  oil,  rosy  crosses,  etc., 
as  of  unquestioned  virtue.  In  these  early  days 
living  saints  seem  to  have  rivalled  dead  ones  in 
their  power  over  diseases,  but  of  these  we  shall 
speak  in  a  later  chapter. 

A  renewed  interest  sprang  up  when  pilgrims  be- 
gan to  return  from  their  journeys  to  Palestine, 
bringing  with  them,  as  was  natural,  some  souvenirs 
of  their  sojourn.  A  most  interesting  quotation 
from  Mackay  reveals  the  condition  of  these  times. 
"The  first  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Land  brought  back 
to  Europe  thousands  of  apocryphal  relics,  in  the 
purchase  of  which  they  had  expended  all  their 

1  J.  Moses,  Pathological  Aspects  of  Religions,  p.  133. 


70  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

store.  The  greatest  favorite  was  the  wood  of  the 
true  cross,  which,  like  the  oil  of  the  widow,  never 
diminished.  It  is  generally  asserted,  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Romish  Church,  that  the  Empress 
Helen,  the  mother  of  Constantine  the  Great,  first 
discovered  the  veritable  'true  cross'  in  her  pil- 
grimage to  Jerusalem.  The  Emperor  Theodosius 
made  a  present  of  the  greater  part  of  it  to  St.  Am- 
brose, Bishop  of  Milan,  by  whom  it  was  studded 
with  precious  stones  and  deposited  in  the  principal 
church  of  that  city.  It  was  carried  away  by  the 
Huns,  by  whom  it  was  burnt,  after  they  had  ex- 
tracted the  valuable  jewels  it  contained.  Frag- 
ments, purporting  to  have  been  cut  from  it,  were,  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  to  be  found  in 
almost  every  church  in  Europe,  and  would,  if  col- 
lected together  in  one  place,  have  been  almost  suffi- 
cient to  have  built  a  cathedral.  Happy  was  the 
sinner  who  could  get  a  sight  of  one  of  them;  hap- 
pier he  who  possessed  one!  To  obtain  them  the 
greatest  dangers  were  cheerfully  braved.  They 
were  thought  to  preserve  from  all  evils  and  to  cure 
the  most  inveterate  diseases.  Annual  pilgrimages 
were  made  to  the  shrines  that  contained  them  and 
considerable  revenues  collected  from  the  devotees. 

"Next  in  renown  were  those  precious  relics,  the 
tears  of  the  Saviour.  By  whom  and  in  what  manner 
they  were  preserved,  the  pilgrim  did  not  enquire. 
Their  genuineness  was  vouched  by  the  Christians  of 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  71 

the  Holy  Land,  and  that  was  sufficient.  Tears  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  and  tears  of  St.  Peter,  were  also 
to  be  had,  carefully  enclosed  in  little  caskets,  which 
the  pious  might  wear  in  their  bosoms.  After  the 
tears,  the  next  most  precious  relics  were  drops  of  the 
blood  of  Jesus  and  the  martyrs,  and  the  milk  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  Hair  and  toe-nails  were  also  in  great 
repute,  and  were  sold  at  extravagant  prices.  Thou- 
sands of  pilgrims  annually  visited  Palestine  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  to  purchase  pre- 
tended relics  for  the  home  market.  The  majority 
of  them  had  no  other  means  of  subsistence  than  the 
profits  thus  obtained.  Many  a  nail,  cut  from  the 
filthy  foot  of  some  unscrupulous  ecclesiastic,  was 
sold  at  a  diamond's  price,  within  six  months  after 
its  severance  from  its  parent  toe,  upon  the  supposi- 
tion that  it  had  once  belonged  to  a  saint  or  an  apostle. 
Peter's  toes  were  uncommonly  prolific,  for  there 
were  nails  enough  in  Europe,  at  the  time  of  the 
Council  of  Clermont,  to  have  filled  a  sack,  all  of 
which  were  devoutly  believed  to  have  grown  on 
the  sacred  feet  of  that  great  apostle.  Some  of  them 
are  still  shown  in  the  cathedral  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 
The  pious  come  from  a  distance  of  a  hundred  Ger- 
man miles  to  feast  their  eyes  upon  them."  1 

While  some  of  these  relics  enumerated  by  Mackay 
seem  to  be  such  apparent  frauds  that  none  could 
credit  them,  they  were  surpassed  in  audacity  by  one 

1  C.  Mackay,  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions,  II,  pp.  303  f. 


72  .       RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

offered  for  sale  at  a  monastery  in  Jerusalem.  Here 
was  presented  to  the  prospective  buyers  one  of  the 
fingers  of  the  Holy  Ghost.1 

In  addition  to  the  popular  relics  already  noted, 
an  extensive  and  lucrative  trade  was  carried  on  in 
iron  filings  from  the  chains  with  which,  it  was 
claimed,  Peter  and  Paul  were  bound.  These  filings 
were  deemed  by  Pope  Gregory  I  as  efficacious  in 
healing  as  were  the  bones  of  saints  or  martyrs.2 

As  an  example  of  healing  at  shrines  in  early  days, 
I  will  reproduce  Bede's  description  of  a  cure  effected 
at  the  tomb  of  St.  Cuthbert  in  698.  "  There  was  in 
that  same  monastery  a  brother  whose  name  was 
Bethwegan,  who  had  for  a  considerable  time  waited 
upon  the  guests  of  the  house,  and  is  still  living,  hav- 
ing the  testimony  of  all  the  brothers  and  strangers 
resorting  thither,  of  being  a  man  of  much  piety  and 
religion,  and  serving  the  office  put  upon  him  only 
for  the  sake  of  the  heavenly  reward.  This  man, 
having  on  a  certain  day  washed  the  mantels  or 
garments  which  he  used  in  the  hospital,  in  the  sea, 
was  returning  home,  when  on  a  sudden  about  half- 
way, he  was  seized  with  a  sudden  distemper  in  his 
body,  insomuch  that  he  fell  down,  and  having  lain 
some  time,  he  could  scarcely  rise  again.  When  at 
last  he  got  up,  he  felt  one-half  of  his  body  from  the 


1 J.  W.  Draper,  History  of  the  Conflict  Between  Religion  and  Science, 
p.  270. 
2  J.  Moses,  Pathological  Aspects  of  Religions,  pp.  132  f. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  73 

head  to  the  foot,  struck  with  palsy,  and  with  much 
difficulty  he  got  home  with  the  help  of  a  staff.  The 
distemper  increased  by  degrees,  and  as  night  ap- 
proached became  still  worse,  so  that  when  day  re- 
turned, he  could  not  rise  or  walk  alone.  In  this  weak 
condition,  a  good  thought  came  into  his  mind,  which 
was  to  go  to  church,  the  best  way  he  could,  to  the 
tomb  of  the  reverend  Father  Cuthbert,  and  there  on 
his  knees,  to  beg  of  the  Divine  Goodness  either  to 
be  delivered  from  that  disease,  if  it  were  for  his 
good,  or  if  the  Divine  Providence  had  ordained  him 
longer  to  lie  under  the  same  for  his  punishment, 
that  he  might  bear  the  pain  with  patience  and  a 
composed  mind.  He  did  accordingly,  and  support- 
ing his  weak  limbs  with  a  staff,  entered  the  church, 
and  prostrating  himself  before  the  body  of  the  man 
of  God,  he  with  pious  earnestness,  prayed,  that 
through  his  intercession,  our  Lord  might  be  propi- 
tious to  him.  In  the  midst  of  his  prayers  he  fell  as 
it  were,  into  a  stupor,  and  as  he  was  afterwards 
wont  to  relate,  felt  a  large  and  broad  hand  touch 
his  head  where  the  pain  lay,  and  by  that  touch  all 
the  part  of  his  body  which  had  been  affected  with  the 
distemper,  was  delivered  from  the  weakness,  and 
restored  to  health  down  to  his  feet.  He  then  awoke, 
and  rose  up  in  perfect  health,  and  returning  thanks 
to  God  for  his  recovery,  told  the  brothers  what  had 
happened  to  him;  and  to  the  joy  of  them  all,  re- 
turned the  more  zealously,  as  if  chastened  by  his 


74  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

affliction,  to  the  service  which  he  was  wont  before 
so  carefully  to  perform.  The  very  garments  which 
had  been  on  Cuthbert's  body,  dedicated  to  God, 
either  while  living,  or  after  he  was  dead,  were  not 
exempt  from  the  virtue  of  performing  cures,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  book  of  his  life  and  miracles,  by  such 
as  shall  read  it."  l  It  should  be  noticed  that  in  this 
account  God  alone  seemed  to  have  been  the  healer. 

Nearly  every  country  had  its  long  list  of  saints, 
each  with  his  special  power  over  some  organ  or  dis- 
ease. This  saintly  power,  however,  was  not  applied 
directly,  but  through  their  relics  or  through  shrines 
consecrated  to  them.  Melton,  in  his  Astrologaster, 
says:  "The  saints  of  the  Romanists  have  usurped 
the  place  of  the  zodiacal  constellations  in  their 
governance  of  the  parts  of  man's  body,  and  that 
'for  every  limbe  they  have  a  saint.'  Thus  St.  Otilia 
keepes  the  head  instead  of  Aries;  St.  Blasius  is  ap- 
pointed to  governe  the  necke  instead  of  Taurus;  St. 
Lawrence  keepes  the  backe  and  shoulders  instead  of 
Gemini,  Cancer,  and  Leo;  St.  Erasmus  rules  the 
belly  with  the  entrayles,  in  the  place  of  Libra  and 
Scorpius;  in  the  stead  of  Sagittarius,  Capricornus, 
Aquarius,  and  Pisces,  the  holy  church  of  Rome  hath 
elected  St.  Burgarde,  St.  Rochus,  St.  Quirinus,  St. 
John,  and  many  others,  which  governe  the  thighes, 
feet,  shinnes,  and  knees." 

But  the  influence  of  the  saints  is  distributed  more 

1  Bede,  Ecclesiastical  History,  ed.  J.  A.  Giles,  bk.  IV,  chap.  XXXI. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  75 

minutely,  as  e.  g.,  "Right  Hand:  the  top  joint  of  the 
thumb  is  dedicated  to  God,  the  second  joint  to  the 
Virgin;  the  top  joint  of  the  fore-finger  to  St.  Barna- 
bas, the  second  joint  to  St.  John,  and  the  third  to 
St.  Paul;  the  top  joint  of  the  second  finger  to  Simon 
Cleophas,  the  second  joint  to  Tathideo,  the  third  to 
Joseph;  the  top  joint  of  the  third  finger  to  Zaccheus, 
the  second  to  Stephen,  the  third  to  the  evangelist 
Luke;  the  top  joint  of  the  little  finger  to  Leatus, 
the  second  to  Mark,  the  third  to  Nicodemus." 
Thus  the  body  was  cared  for. 

Pettigrew  makes  the  following  enumeration  which 
shows  the  division  of  labor  among  the  saints  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  In  this,  not  the  different  portions  of 
the  body  but  the  various  diseases  and  infirmities 
are  distributed. 

"The  following  list,  though  doubtless  very  im- 
perfect, will  yet  serve  to  show  how  general  was  the 
appropriation  of  particular  diseases  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  saints: 

St.  Agatha,  against  sore  breasts. 

St.  Agnan  and  St.  Tignan,  against  scald  head. 

St.  Anthony,  against  inflammations. 

St.  Apollonia,  against  toothache. 

St.  Avertin,  against  lunacy. 

St.  Benedict,  against  the  stone,  and  also  for 
poisons. 

St.  Blaise,  against  the  quinsey,  bones  sticking  in 
the  throat,  etc. 

St.  Christopher  and  St.  Mark,  against  sudden  death. 


76  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

St.  Clara,  against  sore  eyes. 

St.  Erasmus,  against  the  colic. 

St.  Eutrope,  against  dropsy. 

St.  Genow  and  St.  Maur,  against  the  gout. 

St.  Germanus,  against  diseases  of  children. 

St.  Giles  and  St.  Hyacinth,  against  sterility. 

St.  Herbert,  against  hydrophobia. 

St.  Job  and  St.  Fiage,  against  syphilis. 

St.  John,  against  epilepsy  and  poison. 

St.  Lawrence,  against  diseases  of  the  back  and 
shoulders. 

St.  Liberius,  against  the  stone  and  fistula. 

St.  Maine,  against  the  scab. 

St.  Margaret  and  St.  Edine,  against  danger  in  par- 
turition. 

St.  Martin,  against  the  itch. 

St.  Marus,  against  palsy  and  convulsions. 

St.  Otilia  and  St.  Juliana,  against  sore  eyes  and 
the  headache. 

St.  Pernel,  against  the  ague. 

St.  Petronilla,  St.  Apollonia,  and  St.  Lucy,  against 
the  toothache. 

,  and  St.  Genevieve,  against  fevers. 

St.  Phaire,  against  hemorrhoids. 

St.  Quintan,  against  coughs. 

St.  Rochus,  and  St.  Sebastian,  against  the  plague. 

St.  Romanus,  against  demoniacal  possession. 

St.  Ruffin,  against  madness. 

St.  Sigismund,  against  fevers  and  agues. 

St.  Valentine,  against  epilepsy. 

St.  Venise,  against  chlorosis. 

St.  Vitus,  against  madness  and  poisons. 

St.  Wallia  and  St.  Wallery,  against  the  stone. 

St.  Wolfgang,  against  lameness."  l 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  urith  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  pp.  55-57. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  77 

Wax  from  the  tapers  illuminating  the  altar  which 
enclosed  St.  Gall's  mortal  remains  was  an  instanta- 
neous cure  for  toothache,  diseased  eyes,  and  total 
deafness;  a  vase  used  by  the  martyred  Willabrod 
for  bathing  thrice  a  year,  still  holding  its  partially 
solidified  water  by  divine  invocation  after  her 
death,  had  great  remedial  energy  in  diverse  ail- 
ments; the  water  in  which  the  ring  of  St.  Remigius 
was  immersed  cured  certain  obstinate  fevers;  and 
the  wine  in  which  the  bones  of  the  saints  were 
washed  restored  imbeciles  to  instant  health.  In 
the  thirteenth  century,  hairs  of  saints,  especially  of 
St.  Boniface,  were  used  as  a  purge,  and  a  single  hair 
from  the  beard  of  St.  Vincent,  placed  about  the 
neck  of  an  idiot,  restored  normal  mental  operations. 
With  the  water  in  which  St.  Sulpicius  washed  her 
hands  aggravated  infirmities  were  instantly  cured; 
and  in  the  twelfth  century,  an  invalid  being  advised 
in  a  dream  to  drink  the  water  in  which  St.  Bernard 
washed  his  hands,  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux  went  to 
him,  gave  him  the  wash  water,  and  healed  an  incur- 
able disease.  Flowers  reposing  on  the  tomb  of  a 
saint,  when  steeped  in  water,  were  supposed  to  be 
especially  efficacious  in  various  diseases,  and  those 
blooming  in  aromatic  beauty  at  the  tomb  of  St. 
Bernard  instantly  cured  grievous  sicknesses.1  The 
belt  of  St.  Guthlac,  and  the  felt  of  St.  Thomas  of 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
pp.  224  f.,  273-277,  457. 


78  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

Lancaster,  were  sovereign  remedies  for  the  head- 
ache, whilst  the  penknife  and  boots  of  Archbishop 
Becket,  and  a  piece  of  his  shirt,  were  found  most 
admirably  to  aid  parturition.  Fragments  of  the 
veil  of  the  saintess  Coleta,  and  the  use  of  her  well- 
worn  cloak,  immediately  cured  a  terrible  luxation, 
and  a  cataleptic  patient  was  restored  to  sanity  by 
drinking  from  her  cup. 

To  show  how  thoroughly  the  idea  of  the  efficacy 
of  these  relics  must  have  been  indued  in  the  thought 
of  the  times,  White  quotes  the  following:  "Two 
lazy  beggars,  one  blind,  the  other  lame,  try  to  avoid 
the  relics  of  St.  Martin,  borne  about  in  procession, 
so  that  they  may  not  be  healed  and  lose  their  claim 
to  alms.  The  blind  man  takes  the  lame  man  on 
his  shoulders  to  guide  him,  but  they  are  caught  in 
the  crowd  and  healed  against  their  will."  He  also 
says:  "Even  as  late  as  1784  we  find  certain  authori- 
ties in  Bavaria  ordering  that  anyone  bitten  by  a 
mad  dog  shall  at  once  put  up  prayers  at  the  shrine 
of  St.  Hubert,  and  not  waste  his  time  in  any  at- 
tempts at  medical  or  surgical  cure."  l 

In  addition  to  what  Dr.  White  says  here  about 
the  treatment  for  threatened  hydrophobia  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  we  find  a  curious  mixture  of 
science  and  superstition  in  the  nineteenth  century 
in  connection  with  the  same  trouble.  Early  in  this 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
pp.  40  f. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  79 

century  physicians  discovered  that  the  most  effect- 
ual remedy  against  the  bite  of  a  rabid  animal  was 
the  cauterization  of  the  wound  with  a  red-hot  iron. 
In  Tuscany,  however,  the  iron  which  they  heated 
was  one  of  the  nails  of  the  true  cross,  and  in  the 
French  provinces  it  was  the  key  of  St.  Hubert. 
This,  though,  was  only  to  be  used  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  could  trace  their  genealogy  to  this  noble 
saint.  At  the  abbey  of  St.  Hubert,  in  the  diocese 
of  Liege,  the  intercession  of  the  saint  still  continued 
to  be  sufficient  to  effect  a  cure,  provided  it  was 
seconded  by  some  religious  ceremonies,  and  a  diet 
which  would  reassure  the  patient. 

After  the  discovery  of  the  "true  cross,"  portions 
of  this  relic  were  much  used  for  aid  in  any  emer- 
gency. In  addition  to  sanitary  and  healing  powers, 
fragments  suspended  to  a  tree  manifested  the  proper 
location  of  sacred  edifices.  St.  Magnus,  who  seems 
to  have  carried  pieces  around  with  him,  completely 
vanquished  demons  who  frequented  a  locality  se- 
lected for  a  chapel.  Eyesight  was  restored  to  a 
humble  merchant  seeking  the  blood-stained  marks 
upon  the  chapel  of  this  same  St.  Magnus.  The 
blind  man  was  feeling  his  uncertain  way  to  the 
place,  where  these  discolorations  reappeared  more 
distinctly  after  each  washing  with  heavy  layers  of 
lime. 

St.  Louis,  almost  in  the  agonies  of  earthly  disso- 
lution, with  rigid  body,  rigorous  limbs,  and  fluctu- 


80  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

ating  spirit,  was  brought  to  full  health  by  the  appli- 
cation to  his  moribund  body  of  a  piece  of  the  true 
cross,  about  the  year  1244;  and  later  in  the  century 
miracles  took  place  at  his  tomb.  M.  Littre,  in  his 
Fragment  de  Medecine  Retrospective,  describes  seven 
miracles  which  occurred  at  his  tomb,  some  of  which 
cures,  however,  were  very  gradual.  We  are  also 
told  that  when  a  humble  hunchback  bowed  the 
knee  in  adoration  at  the  tomb  of  St.  Andreas,  his 
irresistible  faith  instantly  released  him  from  his  un- 
natural rotundity.  In  1243  a  Ferrara  writer  was  at 
Padua,  and  while  attending  vespers  at  the  tomb 
where  the  sainted  body  of  the  Minorite  Anthony 
reposed,  he  affirms  that  he  saw  a  person  who  had 
been  mute  from  his  birth  recover  his  voice  and 
speak  audibly. 

Saintly  remedies  were  used  to  cure  hemorrhages, 
readjust  luxations,  unite  fractures,  remove  calculi, 
moderate  the  agonizing  pangs  of  parturition,  restore 
vision  to  the  blind,  and  hearing  to  the  deaf — in  fact, 
in  an  endeavor  to  perform  cures  which  modern 
medicine  and  surgery  are  counting  among  their 
greatest  and  most  recent  triumphs.  Some  things 
even  more  strange  were  attempted:  paradoxical  as 
it  may  seem,  they  were  used  to  cover  up  crime. 
Fort  tells  us  that  among  nuns  and  consecrated 
women  in  convents,  some  erring  sisters  applied  the 
preventive  talismanic  influence  of  a  sacred  shirt  or 
girdle  to  suppress  the  manifestation  of  conventual 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  81 

irregularities  of  a  sexual  character.  Animals  as  well 
as  human  beings  were  treated  for  sickness,  and  relics 
were  used  to  free  captive  birds  and  animals.  At  a 
banquet,  a  costly  urn  was  shattered  by  ecclesiastics, 
and  through  the  power  of  Odilo  it  was  restored  to 
its  original  integrity.  At  the  tombs  of  both  St. 
Severin  and  St.  Gall,  when  the  light  had  been 
quenched,  miraculous  fire  burst  forth  to  renew  the 
splendor.1 

The  allotment  of  certain  diseases  to  certain  saints 
did  not  end  with  the  Middle  Ages.  I  have  in  my 
hand  a  little  manual  entitled:  De  V Invocation 
miraculeuse  des  Saints  dans  les  maladies  et  les  besoins 
particuliers,  par  Mme.  la  Baronne  d'Avout,  published 
in  1884.  An  invocation  is  given  for  every  day  in 
the  year  to  some  particular  saint,  who  is  thought  to 
be  especially  efficacious  in  the  cure  of  some  specific 
disease.  I  shall  quote  but  one  for  illustration. 

"30  MAI 
S.  HUBERT  DE  BRETIGNY 

Pres  Noyons  (Oise). 
Honore  au  diocese  de  Beauvais. 

"L'illustre  saint  Hubert,  apdtre  des  Ardennes,  fut 
son  protecteur  et  lui  donna  son  nom.  II  lui  obtint 
les  plus  heureuses  dispositions  pour  la  vertu.  Lui 
aussi  herita  du  pouvoir  de  guerir  de  la  rage. 

"Les  habitants  de  Noyon  et  des  environs  n'ont 
pas  cesse  de  recourir  a  son  intercession.  Les  per- 

:  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  273. 


82  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

sonnes  qui  touchent  ses  reliques  ou  portent  sur  elles 
son  nom  beni  esperent  echapper  pendant  leur  vie 
aux  atteintes  des  demons,  de  la  rage  et  du  tonnerre. 
"A  Aire,  diocese  de  Frejus,  on  invoque  aussi  sainte 
Quitere  centre  la  rage. 

INVOCATION 

"Dieu  tout-puissant,  qui  avez  forme  le  cceur  de 
vos  saints  avec  une  admirable  bonte,  aim  qu'ils 
deviennent  pour  nous  une  source  de  bienfaits  et  de 
consolation;  assistez-nous  dans  le  pressant  besoin 
ou  nous  nous  trouvons  et  sauvez-nous  de  la  mort, 
par  les  prieres  at  les  merites  de  saint  Hubert  de 
Bretigny,  afin  que  nous  puissions  vous  louer  et  vous 
benir.  Par  N.-S.  J.-C.  Ainsi  soit-il. 

"Saint  Hubert,  qui  preservez  de  la  morsure  des 
betes  enragees,  ou  qui  guerissez  leur  morsures  mortelles, 
priez  pour  tons  les  affliges  qui  vous  invoquent." 

While  there  was  probably  some  advance  when 
the  saints  of  the  church  took  the  place  of  the  zodi- 
acal constellations  in  the  government  of  the  human 
body,  the  church  prevented  the  development  along 
scientific  lines,  although  there  were  many  ramifica- 
tions of  saintly  influence.  Not  the  least  among 
these  was  the  healing  efficacy  of  holy  wells,  pools, 
and  streams,  which  had  been  empowered  in  some 
way  by  the  saints.  In  some  cases  the  bones  of  holy 
men  have  been  buried  in  different  parts  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  after  a  certain  lapse  of  time,  water  was 
said  to  have  oozed  from  them,  which  soon  formed 
a  spring  and  cured  all  the  diseases  of  the  faithful. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  83 

Perhaps  the  cure  of  leprous  Naaman  by  bathing 
in  the  Jordan,  and  the  restoration  of  the  sight  of  the 
blind  man  by  washing  in  the  Pool  of  Siloam  may 
have  served  as  examples  which  the  credulous  were 
only  too  ready  to  follow.  We  must  also  note,  how- 
ever, as  a  reason  for  their  use,  that  in  classical  times 
the  greater  number  of  thermal  waters,  more  fre- 
quently used  then  than  in  the  present  day,  remained 
consecrated  to  the  gods,  to  Apollo,  to  ^Esculapius, 
and,  above  all,  to  Hercules,  who  was  named  latri- 
cos,  or  the  able  physician.  At  any  rate,  many  wells 
and  fountains  were  dedicated  to  different  saints, 
and  various  rites  were  performed  there  at  Easter 
and  other  particular  days,  where  offerings  were  also 
made  to  the  saints. 

In  Ireland,  many  such  sacred  places  have  been 
visited  by  the  sick  for  centuries,  and  England  and 
Scotland  have  them  also.  Not  only  in  the  British 
Isles,  but  in  all  parts  of  Europe  they  were  much 
frequented  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  they  are  not 
without  their  visitors  to-day.  As  late  as  1805  the 
eminent  Roman  Catholic  prelate,  Dr.  John  Milner, 
gave  a  detailed  account  of  a  miraculous  cure  per- 
formed at  a  sacred  well  in  Flintshire.  Gregory  of 
Tours  was  one  of  the  first  to  notice  the  healing  power 
of  springs  in  connection  with  the  saints.  He  as- 
serted that  the  diseases  of  the  sick  and  infirm  were 
banished  upon  the  contact  of  a  few  drops  of  water 
drawn  from  a  spring  dug  by  St.  Martin's  own  hands. 


84  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

From  Fosbrooke's  British  Monachism  we  learn 
that  "on  a  spot  called  Nell's  Point,  is  a  fine  well,  to 
which  great  numbers  of  women  resort  on  Holy 
Thursday,  and,  having  washed  their  eyes  in  the 
spring,  they  drop  a  pin  into  it.  Once  a  year,  at 
St.  Mardrin's  well,  also,  lame  persons  went  on  Cor- 
pus Christi  evening,  to  lay  some  small  offering  on 
the  altar,  there  to  lie  on  the  ground  all  night,  drink 
of  the  water  there,  and  on  the  next  morning  to  take 
a  good  draught  more  of  it,  and  carry  away  some  of 
the  water  each  in  a  bottle  at  their  departure.  At 
Muswell  Hill  was  formerly  a  chapel,  called  our  Lady 
of  Muswell,  from  a  well  there,  near  which  was  her 
image;  this  well  was  continually  resorted  to  by 
way  of  pilgrimage.  At  Walsingham,  a  fine  green 
road  was  made  for  the  pilgrims,  and  there  was  a 
holy  well  and  cross  adjacent,  at  which  pilgrims  used 
to  kneel  while  drinking  the  water.  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws  had  proscribed  this  as 
idolatrous.  Such  springs  were  consecrated  upon 
the  discovery  of  cures  effected  by  them.  In  fact," 
Fosbrooke  adds,  "these  consecrated  wells  merely 
imply  a  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  mineral 
waters,  but,  through  ignorance,  a  religious  appro- 
priation of  their  properties  was  made  to  supernat- 
ural causes." 

"Holywell,  in  the  county  of  Flint,"  we  are  in- 
formed by  Salverte,  "derives  its  name  from  the 
Holy  Well  of  St.  Winifred,  over  which  a  chapel  was 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  85 

erected  by  the  Stanley  family,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.  The  well  was  formerly  in  high  repute 
as  a  medicinal  spring.  Pennant  says  that,  in  his 
time,  Lancashire  pilgrims  were  to  be  seen  in  deep 
devotion,  standing  in  the  waters  up  to  the  chin  for 
hours,  sending  up  prayers,  and  making  a  prescribed 
number  of  turnings;  and  this  excess  of  piety  was 
carried  so  far,  as  in  several  instances  to  cost  the 
devotees  their  lives."  * 

Pennant  also  tells  us  of  a  small  spring  outside  the 
bathing  well  at  Whiteford,  which  was  once  famed 
for  the  cure  of  weak  eyes.  The  patient  made  an 
offering  of  a  crooked  pin,  and  at  the  same  time  re- 
peated some  words.  The  well  still  remains,  but  the 
efficacy  of  its  waters  is  lost.  In  recounting  his  tour 
of  Wales,  the  same  author  describes  the  church  of 
St.  Tecla,  virgin  and  martyr,  at  Llandegla.  He 
says:  "About  two  hundred  yards  from  the  church, 
in  a  Quillet  called  Gwern  Degla,  rises  a  small  spring. 
The  water  is  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Saint,  and  to 
this  day  held  to  be  extremely  beneficial  in  the  fall- 
ing sickness.  The  patient  washes  his  limbs  in  the 
well;  makes  an  offering  into  it  of  four-pence;  walks 
round  it  three  times;  and  thrice  repeats  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  These  ceremonies  are  never  begun  till 
after  sun-set,  in  order  to  inspire  the  votaries  with 
greater  awe.  If  the  afflicted  be  of  the  male  sex,  like 

1  E.  Salverte,  The  Philosophy  of  Magic  (trans.  Thompson),  II, 
p,93. 


86  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

Socrates,  he  makes  an  offering  of  a  cock  to  his 
^Esculapius,  or  rather  to  Tecla  Hygeia;  if  of  the 
fair  sex,  a  hen.  The  fowl  is  carried  in  a  basket, 
first  round  the  well;  after  that  into  the  church-yard; 
when  the  same  orisons  and  the  same  circum-ambu- 
lations  are  performed  round  the  church.  The  vo- 
tary then  enters  the  church;  gets  under  the  com- 
munion table;  lies  down  with  the  Bible  under  his  or 
her  head;  is  covered  with  the  carpet  or  cloth,  and 
rests  there  till  break  of  day;  departing  after  offer- 
ing sixpence,  and  leaving  the  fowl  in  the  church. 
If  the  bird  dies,  the  cure  is  supposed  to  have  been 
effected,  and  the  disease  transferred  to  the  devoted 
victim."  * 

"At  Withersden,"  says  Hasted,  "is  a  well,  which 
was  once  famous,  being  called  St.  Eustache's  well, 
taking  its  name  from  Eustachius,  Abbot  of  Flai, 
who  is  mentioned  by  Matt.  Paris,  An.  1200,  to  have 
been  a  man  of  learning  and  sanctity,  and  to  have 
come  and  preached  at  Wye,  and  to  have  blessed  a 
fountain  there,  so  that  afterwards  its  waters  were 
endowed  by  such  miraculous  power,  that  by  it  all 
diseases  were  cured." 2  Unfortunately,  wells  do 
not  always  benefit  the  bathers.  Lilly  3  relates  that 
in  1635  Sir  George  Peckham  died  in  St.  Winifred's 
Well,  "having  continued  so  long  mumbling  his  pater 
nosters  and  Sancta  Winifreda  ora  pro  me,  that  the 

1  Tour  of  Wales,  I,  p.  405.  2  Hasted,  Kent,  III,  p.  176. 

1  History  of  His  Life  and  Times,  p.  32. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  87 

cold  struck  into  his  body,  and  after  his  coming  forth 
of  that  well  he  never  spoke  more." 

The  people  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  regarded 
fountains  with  particular  veneration.  According  to 
the  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  the  minister  of 
Kirkmichael,  Banffshire,  said:  "The  sick  who  resort 
to  them  for  health,  address  their  vows  to  the  pre- 
siding powers,  and  offer  presents  to  conciliate  their 
favor.  These  presents  generally  consist  of  a  small 
piece  of  money,  or  a  few  fragrant  flowers.  The  same 
reverence  in  ancient  tunes  seems  to  have  been  en- 
tertained by  every  people  in  Europe."  Near  Kirk- 
michael there  was  a  fountain  dedicated  to  St. 
Michael,  and  once  celebrated  for  its  cures.  "Many 
a  patient  have  its  waters  restored  to  health,  and 
many  more  have  attested  the  efficacy  of  their  virt- 
ues. But,  as  the  presiding  power  is  sometimes 
capricious,  and  apt  to  desert  his  charge,  it  now  lies 
neglected,  choked  with  weeds,  unhonored  and  un- 
frequented." * 

The  most  noted  well  in  Perthshire  is  in  Trinity 
Gask.  Again  from  the  Statistical  Account  we  quote : 
"Superstition,  aided  by  the  interested  artifices  of 
Popish  Priests,  raised,  in  times  of  ignorance  and 
bigotry,  this  well  to  no  small  degree  of  celebrity. 
It  was  affirmed  that  every  person  who  was  baptized 
with  the  water  of  this  well  would  never  be  seized 
with  the  plague.  The  extraordinary  virtue  of  Trin- 

1  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  VII,  p.  213,  and  XII,  p.  464. 


88  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

ity  Gask  well  has  perished  with  the  downfall  of 
superstition."  * 

Pinkerton,  in  speaking  of  the  river  Fillan  in  Scot- 
land, says:  "In  this  river  is  a  pool  consecrated 
by  the  ancient  superstition  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  country.  The  pool  is  formed  by  the  eddying 
of  the  stream  round  a  rock.  Its  waves  were  many 
years  since  consecrated  by  Fillan,  one  of  the  saints 
who  converted  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Caledonia 
from  paganism  to  the  belief  of  Christianity.  It  has 
ever  since  been  distinguished  by  his  name,  and 
esteemed  of  sovereign  virtue  in  curing  madness. 
About  two  hundred  persons  afflicted  in  this  way  are 
annually  brought  to  try  the  benefits  of  its  salutary 
influence.  These  patients  are  conducted  by  their 
friends,  who  first  perform  the  ceremony  of  passing 
with  them  thrice  through  a  neighbouring  cairn:  on 
this  cairn  they  then  deposit  a  simple  offering  of 
clothes,  or  perhaps  a  small  bunch  of  heath.  More 
precious  offerings  used  once  to  be  brought.  The 
patient  is  then  thrice  immerged  in  the  sacred  pool. 
After  the  immersion,  he  is  bound  hand  and  foot, 
and  left  for  the  night  in  a  chapel  which  stands  near. 
If  the  maniac  is  found  loose  in  the  morning,  good 
hopes  are  conceived  of  his  full  recovery.  If  he  is 
still  bound,  his  cure  remains  doubtful.  It  some- 
times happens  that  death  relieves  him,  during  his 
confinement,  from  the  troubles  of  life." 
1  tind.,  XVIII,  p.  487. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  89 

Mrs.  Macaulay,1  speaking  of  a  consecrated  well 
in  St.  Kilda,  called  Tobirnimbuadh,  or  the  spring  of 
diverse  virtues,  says  that  "near  the  fountain  stood 
an  altar,  on  which  the  distressed  votaries  laid  down 
their  oblations.  Before  they  could  touch  sacred 
water  with  any  prospect  of  success,  it  was  their 
constant  practice  to  address  the  genius  of  the  place 
with  supplication  and  prayer.  No  one  approached 
him  with  empty  hands.  .  .  .  Shells  and  pebbles, 
rags  of  linen  or  stuffs  worn  out,  pins,  needles,  or 
rusty  nails  were  generally  all  the  tribute  that  was 
paid." 

Collinson  2  mentions  a  well  in  the  parish  Wembton, 
called  St.  John's  Well,  to  which  in  1464  "an  immense 
concourse  of  people  resorted:  and  .  .  .  many  who 
had  for  years  labored  under  various  bodily  dis- 
eases, and  had  found  no  benefit  from  physick  and 
physicians,  were,  by  the  use  of  these  waters  (after 
paying  their  due  offerings),  restored  to  their  primi- 
tive health." 

Brome,  in  his  Travels,  1700,  observes:  "In  Lo- 
thien,  two  miles  from  Edinburg  southward,  is  a 
spring  called  St.  Katherine's  Well,  flowing  continu- 
ally with  a  kind  of  black  fatness,  or  oil,  above  the 
water,  proceeding  (as  it  is  thought)  from  the  parret 
coal,  which  is  frequent  in  these  parts;  'tis  of  a  mar- 
vellous nature,  for  as  the  coal,  whereof  it  proceeds, 

1  C.  S.  Macaulay,  History  of  St.  Kilda,  p.  95. 
'Somersetshire,  111,  p.  104. 


90  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

is  very  apt  quickly  to  kindle  into  a  flame,  so  is  the 
oil  of  a  sudden  operation  to  heal  all  scabs  and  tumors 
that  trouble  the  outward  skin,  and  the  head  and 
hands  are  speedily  healed  by  virtue  of  this  oil, 
which  retains  a  very  sweet  smell;  and  at  Aberdeen 
is  another  well  very  efficacious  to  dissolve  the  stone, 
to  expel  sand  from  the  reins  and  bladder,  being 
good  for  the  collick  and  drunk  in  July  and  August, 
not  inferiour,  they  report,  to  the  Spaw  in  Germany."  1 
Grose  tells  us  of  a  well  dedicated  to  St.  Oswald, 
between  the  towns  of  Alton  and  Newton.  The 
neighbors  have  the  opinion  that  a  sick  person's 
shirt  thrown  into  the  well  will  prognosticate  the 
outcome  of  the  disease;  if  it  floats  the  sick  one  will 
recover,  if  it  sinks  he  will  die.  To  reward  the  saint 
for  the  information,  they  tear  a  rag  off  the  shirt  and 
hang  it  on  the  briers  near  by;  "where,"  says  the 
writer,  "I  have  seen  such  numbers  as  might  have 
made  a  fayre  rheme  in  a  paper-myll."  Similar 
practices  are  related  by  other  authors.  Ireland 
formerly  had  a  sanctified  well  in  nearly  every  parish. 
They  were  marked  by  rude  crosses  and  surrounded 
by  fragments  of  cloth  left  as  memorials.  St.  Ro- 
nague's  Well,  near  Cork,  was  very  popular  at  one 
time.  Near  Carrick-on-Suir  is  the  holy  well  of 
Tubber  Quan,  the  waters  of  which  are  reputed  to 
have  performed  many  miraculous  cures.  The  well 

1  I  am  much  indebted  to  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  pp.  1-17, 
for  some  of  the  quotations  used  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  91 

was  dedicated  to  two  patron  saints,  St.  Quan  and 
St.  Brogawn.  These  saints  are  supposed  to  exert 
a  special  influence  the  last  three  Sundays  in  June. 
"It  is  firmly  believed/'  says  Brand,  "that  at  this 
period  the  two  saints  appear  in  the  well  in  the  shape 
of  two  small  fishes,  of  the  trout  kind;  and  if  they  do 
not  so  appear,  that  no  cure  will  take  place.  The 
penitents  attending  on  these  occasions  ascend  the 
hill  barefoot,  kneel  by  the  stream  and  repeat  a 
number  of  paters  and  aves,  then  enter  it,  go  through 
the  stream  three  times,  at  a  slow  pace,  reciting 
their  prayers.  They  then  go  on  the  gravel  walk, 
and  traverse  it  round  three  times  on  their  bare 
knees,  often  till  the  blood  starts  in  the  operation, 
repeat  their  prayers,  then  traverse  three  times 
round  a  tree  on  their  bare  knees,  but  upon  the 
grass.  Having  performed  these  exercises  they  cut 
off  locks  of  their  hair  and  tie  them  on  the  branches 
of  the  tree  as  specifics  against  headache." 

After  being  three  times  admonished  in  a  dream, 
a  man  washed  in  St.  Madern's  Well  in  Cornwall  and 
was  miraculously  cured,  so  say  Bishop  Hall  and 
Father  Francis.  Ranulf  Higden,  in  his  Polychron- 
icon,  relates  the  wonderful  cures  performed  at  the 
holy  well  at  Basingwerk.  The  red  streaks  in  the 
stones  surrounding  it  were  symbols  of  the  blood  of 
St.  Wenefride,  martyred  by  Carodoc. 

The  Scotch  considered  certain  wells  to  have  heal- 
ing properties  in  the  month  of  May.  In  the  Ses- 


92  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

sions  Records  (June  12,  1628)  it  is  reported  that  a 
number  of  persons  were  brought  before  the  Kirk 
Sessions  of  Falkirk,  accused  of  going  to  Christ's 
Well  on  the  Sundays  of  May  to  seek  their  health, 
and  the  whole  being  found  guilty  were  sentenced  to 
repent ' '  in  linens ' '  three  several  sabbaths.  "  In  1 657 
a  number  of  persons  were  publicly  rebuked  for  visit- 
ing the  well  at  Airth.  The  custom  was  to  leave  a 
piece  of  money  and  a  napkin  at  the  well,  from  which 
they  took  a  can  of  water,  and  were  not  to  speak  a 
word  either  in  going  or  returning,  nor  on  any  ac- 
count to  spill  a  drop  of  the  water.  Notwithstand- 
ing these  proceedings,  many  are  known  to  have 
lately  travelled  many  miles  into  the  Highlands, 
there  to  obtain  water  for  the  cure  of  their  sick 
cattle."  l 

To-day,  probably  the  most  efficacious  waters  are 
to  be  found  at  the  sacred  fountain  at  La  Salette 
and  at  the  holy  spring  at  Lourdes. 

We  have  another  specific  form  of  healing  which 
should  be  noticed.  It  was  especially  common  in 
Eastern  churches,  and  was  found  to  some  extent  in 
the  West.  I  refer  to  Incubation,  or  "Temple-sleep." 
This  practice  came  down  through  early  civilizations 
and  was  an  adopted  practice  among  Christians. 
The  patient  went  to  some  church  well  known  for  its 
cures,  which  was  provided  with  mattresses  or  low 

1  Superstitions  Connected  vrith  .  .  .  Medicine  and  Surgery,  pp. 
57-fil. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  93 

couches,  and  attended  by  priests  and  assistants. 
Devotions  being  finished  he  lay  down  to  sleep. 
Sometimes  he  slept  immediately,  at  other  times 
sleep  must  be  wooed  by  fast  and  vigil.  At  any 
rate,  during  the  sleep  he  dreamed  that  the  saint 
touched  him,  or  prescribed  some  remedy,  and  in 
the  first  case  he  awoke  cured,  and  in  the  second  the 
prescribed  medicine  brought  about  the  relief. 

Sophronius,  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  wrote 
about  640  as  follows:  "Cyrus  appeared  to  the  sick 
man  in  the  form  of  a  monk,  not  in  a  dream,  as  he 
appears  to  many;  but  in  a  waking  vision,  just  as  he 
was  and  is  represented.  He  told  the  patient  to  rise 
and  to  plunge  into  the  warm  water.  Zosimos  said 
it  was  impossible  for  him  to  move,  but  when  the 
order  was  repeated,  he  slid  like  a  snake  into  the 
bath.  When  he  got  into  the  water,  he  saw  the 
saint  at  his  side,  but  when  he  came  out,  the  vision 
had  vanished."  Beside  the  cure  of  this  paralytic 
at  the  church  of  Cyrus  and  John,  he  mentions  the 
cure  of  many  other  diseases  by  this  method  of  in- 
cubation. Among  them  are  dumbness,  blindness, 
barrenness,  possession,  scrofula,  dyspepsia,  a  broken 
leg,  deformities  of  limbs,  lameness,  gout,  diseases  of 
the  eyes,  cataract,  ulcer,  and  dropsy. 

Among  the  churches  of  Greece  and  southern 
Italy  incubation  is  still  common.  The  climate  may 
have  some  effect  in  limiting  the  area  of  this  practice. 
Miss  M.  Hamilton  furnishes  us  with  some  modem 


94  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

examples.  In  speaking  of  a  new  picture  of  St. 
George  in  the  church  at  Arachova,  she  says:  "It  is 
a  votive  offering  of  a  Russian,  who  came  a  paralytic 
to  Arachova  in  July,  1905.  He  spent  several  weeks 
praying  and  sleeping  in  the  church,  and  departed 
completely  cured.  The  festival  of  St.  George  is 
held  on  April  23rd.  They  have  three  days  of  dan- 
cing and  feasting,  and  at  night  all  suppliants  bring 
their  rugs  and  sleep  round  the  shrines  in  the  church. 
Every  year  many  of  the  sick  are  found  to  be  cured 
when  morning  comes." 

The  Church  of  the  Evangelestria,  our  Lady  of  the 
Annunciation,  is  visited  by  about  forty-five  thousand 
pilgrims  every  year.  It  is  situated  at  Tenos,  and 
Miss  Hamilton  tells  us  what  she  saw  during  her 
visit  there  in  1906: 

"On  the  morning  before  Annunciation  Day  this 
year,  the  pilgrims  could  be  seen  making  their  way 
to  the  church.  Among  them  were  cripples,  armless, 
and  legless,  half -rolling  up  the  street;  blind  people 
groping  their  way  along;  men  and  women  with  de- 
formities of  every  kind;  one  or  two  showing  the 
pallor  of  death  on  their  faces  were  being  carried  up 
on  litters.  These  evidently  were  coming  to  Tenos 
as  a  last  resource,  when  doctors  were  of  no  avail. 
Other  pilgrims  were  ascending  after  their  own 
fashion,  according  to  vows  they  had  made.  One 
woman  toiled  laboriously  along  on  her  knees,  kiss- 
ing the  stones  of  the  way,  and  clasping  a  silver 
Madonna  and  Child.  Last  year  her  daughter  had 
been  seized  with  epilepsy,  and  she  vowed  to  carry  in 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  95 

this  way  this  offering  to  the  Madonna  of  Tenos  if  she 
would  cure  her  daughter.  The  girl  recovered  and 
the  other  now  with  thankful  heart  was  fulfilling  her 
part  of  the  bargain. 

"The  eve  of  Annunciation  Day  is  the  time  when 
the  Panagia  is  believed  to  descend  among  the  sick 
and  work  miraculous  cures  among  them.  Then  all 
the  patients  are  gathered  together  in  the  crypt  or  in 
the  upper  church.  The  Chapel  of  the  Well  is  the 
popular  place  for  incubation.  There  is  more  chance 
for  miraculous  cure  there  than  in  the  church.  The 
little  crypt  can  accommodate  only  a  comparatively 
small  number,  but  they  are  packed  together  as 
tightly  as  possible.  From  the  entrance  up  to  the 
altar,  they  lie  in  two  lines  of  three  or  four  deep, 
with  a  passage  down  the  middle  large  enough  for 
only  one  person.  Down  the  narrow  way  two 
streams  of  people  press  the  whole  evening.  They 
worship  at  the  shrines  along  the  wall,  purchase  holy 
earth  from  the  spot  where  the  picture  was  discovered, 
drink  at  the  sacred  well,  and  are  blessed  by  the 
priest  at  the  altar.  The  cripples  and  the  sick  desir- 
ing healing  have  been  engaged  all  day  in  such  acts 
of  worship;  they  have  received  bread  and  water 
from  the  priests  in  the  upper  church,  paid  homage 
to  the  all-powerful  picture,  offered  their  candles  to 
the  Madonna,  and  all  the  time  sought  to  endue 
themselves  with  her  presence.  Now  at  night,  still 
fixing  their  thoughts  upon  her,  and  permeated  by 
this  spirit  of  worship,  they  settle  down  to  sleep  in 
order  that  she  may  appear  to  them  in  a  dream. 

"Disappointment,  of  course,  awaits  the  vast  ma- 
jority, but  on  the  evening  of  the  vigil  all  are  filled 
with  hope.  They  know  the  precedents  of  former 
years,  how  such  things  have  happened  to  some  un- 
fortunate people  among  the  pilgrims  every  year. 


96  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

Usually  eight  or  nine  miracles  take  place,  and  lists 
of  them  are  published  for  distribution.  .  .  . 

"The  church  records  contain  accounts  of  the 
miracles  which  now  amount  to  many  hundreds. 
They  are  practically  all  of  the  type  I  have  de- 
scribed— cure  during  a  vision  while  incubation  was 
being  practised.  For  example,  the  case  of  a  man 
from  Moldavia  is  on  record.  He  had  become  para- 
lyzed during  a  night-watch,  and  the  doctor  could 
effect  no  relief.  He  was  taken  to  the  Chapel  of  the 
Well,  and  when  asleep  he  thought  he  heard  a  voice 
telling  him  to  arise.  He  awoke,  thought  it  was  a 
dream,  and  fell  asleep  again.  A  second  time  he 
heard  a  voice,  and  saw  a  white-robed  woman  of 
great  beauty  entering  the  church.  In  his  fear  he 
rose  and  walked  about.  His  recovery  was  so  com- 
plete that  he  could  walk  in  the  procession  round  the 
town  the  following  day."  1 

The  medicinal  power  imputed  to  the  sainted  relics 
and  shrines  would  naturally  be  considered  very 
valuable.  So  it  proved.  Wealth  flowed  to  a  con- 
ventual treasury  or  a  cathedral  chapter  where  were 
deposited  fragments  of  the  martyred  dead  endowed 
with  miraculous  puissance.  When  the  Frankish 
forces  sacked  Constantinople  at  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  principal  object  of  their 
ferocious  cruelties  and  vigilant  searches  was  the 
acquisition  of  precious  relics.  Concerning  these 
relics  Fort  gives  the  following  account : 

1 1  am  indebted  to  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  pp.  278-281,  314- 
318,  for  the  material  on  incubation.  For  fuller  study,  see  L.  Deubner, 
De  Incubatione,  and  M.  Hamilton,  Incubation. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  97 

"These  relics,  captured  in  Constantinople,  were 
divided  by  the  troops  under  Marquis  de  Montfort, 
with  the  same  justice  as  prevailed  in  the  division  of 
other  booty.  In  this  way  the  Venetians  were  en- 
abled to  enrich  their  metropolis  with  a  piece  of  the 
sainted  cross,  an  arm  of  St.  George,  part  of  the  head 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  entire  skeleton  of  St. 
Luke,  that  of  the  prophet  St.  Simeon,  and  a  small 
bottle  of  Jesus  Christ's  blood.  The  Greek  capital 
from  the  remotest  times  appears  to  have  monopo- 
lized this  traffic  in  sacred  wares,  claiming  to  possess 
a  fragment  of  the  stone  on  which  Jacob  slept,  and 
the  staff  transformed  into  a  serpent  by  Moses. 

"Here  also  were  guarded  the  Holy  Virgin's  vest- 
ments, her  spindle,  drops  of  her  milk,  the  cradle  in 
which  the  Saviour  had  lain,  a  tooth  from  his  adoles- 
cent jaw,  a  hair  of  his  beard,  a  particle  of  the  bread 
used  in  the  Last  Supper,  and  a  portion  of  the  royal 
purple  worn  by  him  before  Pilate.  Naturally  cler- 
ical adventurers  among  the  occidental  Crusaders, 
pending  the  sacking  of  the  Byzantine  city,  sought  out 
most  zealously  these  valuable  remnants  of  pristine 
glory,  and  in  obtaining  them  were  by  no  means  scru- 
pulous with  menaces  and  violence.  When  scattered 
through  Western  Europe,  in  the  monasteries  and  other 
religious  places,  their  curative  properties  increased 
the  pilgrimages  thither  of  the  sick  and  diseased."  l 

He  further  gives  us  more  in  detail 2  an  idea  of  the 
continual  accumulation  of  riches  which  were  derived 
from  the  exposure  of  these  relics  to  the  sick  and  in- 
firm and  the  consequent  growth  in  wealth  of  the 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  227. 

a  Ibid.,  pp.  210-214,  226  f.,  278. 


98  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

monasteries  and  cathedrals.  The  monastic  system 
was  probably  most  responsible  for  the  change  from 
the  simple  adoration  of  the  early  Christians  to  the  use 
of  relics  as  a  miraculous  means  of  healing.  Those 
which  were  transported  with  elaborate  ceremonies, 
enclosed  in  a  magnificent  stone  sarcophagus,  and 
covered  by  an  edifice  of  imposing  proportions  were 
almost  sure  to  bring  to  their  custodians  great  wealth. 
It  is  said  that  when  the  body  of  St.  Sebastian,  which 
was  legitimately  obtained  from  Rome,  together  with 
the  purloined  remains  of  St.  Gregory,  reached  the 
cloister  of  Soissons,  so  great  was  the  crowd  of  in- 
valids who  were  cured,  and  so  generous  were  they 
in  their  donations,  that  the  monks  actually  counted 
eighty  measures  of  money  and  one  hundred  pounds 
in  coin.  The  great  value  of  such  objects  may  be 
calculated  when  it  is  remembered  that  in  the  year 
1056  securities  amounting  to  ten  thousand  solidi 
were  pledged  for  the  production  of  the  relics  of  St. 
Just  and  St.  Pastor,  consequent  upon  the  legal 
decision  of  ownership  between  Berenger,  a  French 
ruler,  and  a  Narbonnese  archbishop.  The  Reich- 
berg  annals  provide  a  further  example.  They  state 
that  the  emperor  demanded  certain  hostages,  or  the 
holy  arm  of  St.  George,  as  a  suitable  guarantee  for 
the  institution  of  a  public  mart  in  Germany. 

Venetian  merchants  were  among  the  first  to  real- 
ize the  commercial  value  of  relics,  and  enjoyed  a 
lucrative  traffic  in  this  holy  merchandise.  It  was 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  99 

not  until  the  eleventh  century,  however,  that  the 
government  of  Venice  founded  public  marts  or  fairs 
for  the  commercial  exchange  of  saintly  relics,  al- 
though Rome  and  Pavia  had  long  conducted  such 
enterprises.  These  fairs  were  placed  under  the 
tutelary  protection  of  some  patron  saint,  the  Vene- 
tians, of  course,  thus  honoring  St.  Mark.  They 
were  not  always  particular  how  these  relics  were 
procured,  for  it  is  stated  that  when  negotiations  for 
the  exchange  of  a  well-preserved  body  of  St.  Tairise 
proved  unsuccessful,  because  the  Greek  monks  who 
possessed  it  refused  absolutely  to  sell  or  barter, 
these  enterprising  traders  quietly  stole  the  desired 
skeleton. 

Relics  provided  a  suitable  method  of  acquiring 
ecclesiastical  fortunes  for  denuded  cloisters  or  im- 
poverished nunneries;  and  if  the  old  relics  lost  their 
power  it  was  not  difficult  to  procure  episcopal  as- 
surance of  the  miraculous  powers  of  new  ones.  For 
the  procuring  of  special  funds  the  venerated  objects 
were  taken  from  place  to  place,  under  priestly  sur- 
veillance, presented  to  the  sick  and  infirm  with 
assurance  of  relief,  and  with  the  demand  for  large 
sums  of  money. 

We  can  easily  understand,  then,  why  such  dona- 
tions were  regarded  as  most  precious  presents,  and 
chronicled  in  the  conventual  records  as  events  of 
high  importance.  As  early  as  the  ninth  century, 
documentary  evidence  of  authenticity  frequently 


100  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

accompanied  a  gift  of  relics,  and  furnished  legal 
proof  of  ownership. 

The  gift  of  St.  Peter's  knife  to  a  German  monas- 
tery by  a  benevolent  abbot  was  deemed  a  most 
illustrious  act.  About  the  same  time  a  noble  pil- 
grim succeeded,  after  great  importunity  and  a  lavish 
outlay  of  money,  in  obtaining  trifling  particles  of 
the  relics  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  which  he 
enclosed  in  a  priceless  box  and  donated  to  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Gall.  This  gift  was  considered  the 
greatest  event  of  the  year,  but  when  it  is  considered 
that  this  and  similar  presents  insure  in  the  com- 
munity where  they  are  deposited  uninterrupted 
peace,  unstinted  plenty,  absence  of  catastrophies, 
and  the  cure  of  diseases,  their  value  is  explained. 

The  commercial  aspect  of  ecclesiastical  cures, 
however,  was  discovered  by  other  than  priestly  or 
monkish  eyes,  and  different  forms  began  to  be  pre- 
sented. Of  these  White  says:  "Very  important 
among  these  was  the  Agnus  Dei,  or  piece  of  wax 
from  the  Paschal  candles,  stamped  with  the  figure 
of  a  lamb  and  consecrated  by  the  Pope.  In  1471 
Pope  Paul  II  expatiated  to  the  Church  on  the  effi- 
cacy of  this  fetich  in  preserving  men  from  fire,  ship- 
wreck, tempest,  lightning,  and  hail,  as  well  as  in 
assisting  women  in  childbirth;  and  he  reserved  to 
himself  and  his  successors  the  manufacture  of  it. 
Even  as  late  as  1517  Pope  Leo  X  issued,  for  a  con- 
sideration, tickets  bearing  a  cross  and  the  following 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  101 

inscription:  'This  cross  measured  forty  times  makes 
the  height  of  Christ  in  his  humanity.  He  who  kisses 
it  is  preserved  for  seven  days  from  falling-sickness, 
apoplexy,  and  sudden  death.'  "  * 

The  enormous  revenues  procured  through  the 
means  of  relics,  and  the  lack  of  certain  means  of 
identifying  them,  would  naturally  encourage  the 
imposition  of  fraud.  The  crime  would  not  appear 
so  great  after  one  experience,  for  the  perpetrators 
could  readily  see  that  it  really  made  no  difference 
so  far  as  efficacy  in  the  cure  of  diseases  was  con- 
cerned, whether  or  not  the  relics  were  genuine. 
The  history  of  some  of  the  relics  unfortunately 
proves  them  not  to  be  relics  at  all,  or  at  least  not  to 
be  the  relics  which  the  faithful  supposed  them  to  be. 
Notice  a  few  instances.  In  a  magnificent  shrine  in 
the  cathedral  at  Cologne  are  the  skulls  of  the  three 
kings,  or  wise  men  from  the  East,  who  brought  gifts 
to  the  infant  Lord.  They  have  rested  here  since  the 
twelfth  century  and  have  been  the  source  of  enor- 
mous wealth  and  power  to  the  cathedral  chapter. 
Not  to  be  outdone  by  the  cathedral,  for  the  church 
of  St.  Gereon  a  cemetery  has  been  depopulated, 
and  the  bones  thus  procured  have  been  placed  upon 
the  walls  and  are  known  as  the  relics  of  St.  Gereon 
and  his  Theband  band  of  martyrs!  Further  com- 
petition arose  in  the  neighboring  church  of  St. 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
p.  30. 


102  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

Ursula.  Another  cemetery  was  despoiled  and  the 
bones  covering  the  interior  of  the  walls  are  known 
as  the  relics  of  St.  Ursula  and  her  eleven  thousand 
virgin  martyrs.  Anatomists  now  declare  that  many 
of  the  bones  are  those  of  men,  but  this  made  no 
more  difference  in  their  healing  efficacy  in  the 
Middle  Ages  than  the  fact  that  the  relics  of  St. 
Rosalia  at  Palermo,  famed  for  their  healing  power, 
have  lately  been  declared  by  Professor  Buckland, 
the  eminent  osteologist,  to  be  the  bones  of  a  goat. 

Two  different  investigations  have  been  conducted 
by  the  French  courts  concerning  the  fountain  of 
La  Salette,  and  in  both  cases  the  miracles  which 
make  the  shrine  famous  were  pronounced  to  be 
fraudulent.  The  recent  restoration  of  the  cathedral 
at  Trondhjem  has  revealed  a  tube  in  the  walls,  not 
unlike  the  apparatus  discovered  in  the  Temple  of 
Isis  at  Pompeii;  the  healing  power  of  this  sacred 
spring  was  augmented  by  angelic  voices  which 
issued  from  the  supposedly  solid  walls.1 

While  the  golden  age  of  the  therapeutic  use  of 
relics  was  from  the  sixth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries, 
modern  times,  with  its  physicians,  hospitals,  and 
drugs,  has  not  been  deprived  of  this  method  of  cure. 
Mackay,  writing  in  the  latter  half  of  the  past  cen- 
tury, touches  this  subject. 

At  Port  Royal,  in  Paris,  is  kept  with  great  care 
a  thorn,  which  the  priests  of  that  seminary  assert  to 

1  Ibid.,  II,  pp.  21,  29,  43. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  103 

be  one  of  the  identical  thorns  that  bound  the  holy 
head  of  the  Son  of  God.  How  it  came  there,  and 
by  whom  it  was  preserved,  has  never  been  explained. 
This  is  the  famous  thorn  which  the  long  dissensions 
of  the  Jansenists  and  the  Molenists  have  made  cele- 
brated, and  which  worked  the  miraculous  cure  upon 
Mademoiselle  Perier,  an  account  of  which  is  so  in- 
teresting that  I  give  it.  The  cure  occurred  on 
March  14,  1646. 

"A  young  pensioner  in  the  monastery,  by  name 
Margaret  Perier,  who  for  three  years  and  a  half  had 
suffered  from  a  lachrymal  fistula,  came  up  in  her 
turn  to  kiss  it;  and  the  nun,  her  mistress,  more  hor- 
rified than  ever  at  the  swelling  and  deformity  of  her 
eye,  had  a  sudden  impulse  to  touch  the  sore  with  the 
relic,  believing  that  God  was  sufficiently  able  and 
willing  to  heal  her.  She  thought  no  more  of  the 
matter,  but  the  little  girl  having  retired  to  her  room, 
perceived  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  that  her  disease 
was  cured;  and  when  she  told  her  companions,  it 
was  indeed  found  that  nothing  more  was  to  be  seen 
of  it.  There  was  no  more  tumor;  and  her  eye, 
which  the  swelling  (continuous  for  three  years)  had 
weakened  and  caused  to  water,  had  become  as  dry, 
as  healthy,  as  lively  as  the  other.  The  spring  of 
the  filthy  matter,  which  every  quarter  of  an  hour 
ran  down  from  nose,  eye,  and  mouth,  and  at  the 
very  moment  before  the  miracle  had  fallen  upon 
her  cheek  (as  she  declared  in  her  deposition),  was 
found  to  be  quite  dried  up;  the  bone,  which  had 
been  rotted  and  putrified,  was  restored  to  its  former 
condition;  all  the  stench,  proceeding  from  it,  which 
had  been  so  insupportable  that  by  order  of  the 


104  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

physicians  and  surgeons  she  was  separated  from 
her  companions,  was  changed  into  a  breath  as  sweet 
as  an  infant's;  and  she  recovered  at  the  same 
moment  her  sense  of  smell.  .  .  . 

"Mons.  Felix,  Chief  Surgeon  to  the  King,  who 
had  seen  her  during  the  month  of  April,  was  curious 
enough  to  return  on  the  8th  of  August,  and  having 
found  the  cure  as  thorough  and  marvellous  as  it  had 
seemed  to  him  at  the  time,  declared  under  his  hand 
that  'he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  God  alone  had 
the  power  to  produce  an  effect  so  sudden  and 
extraordinary/  "  1 

Mackay  gives  the  following  account  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  relics  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century:  "Europe  still  swarms  with  these  religious 
relics.  There  is  hardly  a  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  or  Belgium,  without  one 
or  more  of  them.  Even  the  poorly  endowed  churches 
of  the  villages  boast  the  possession  of  miraculous 
thighbones  of  the  innumerable  saints  of  the  Romish 
calendar.  Aix-la-Chapelle  is  proud  of  the  veritable 
chasse,  or  thighbone  of  Charlemagne,  which  cures 
lameness.  Halle  has  a  thighbone  of  the  Virgin 
Mary;  Spain  has  seven  or  eight,  all  said  to  be  un- 
doubted relics.  Brussels  at  one  time  preserved, 
and  perhaps  does  now,  the  teeth  of  St.  Gudule. 
The  faithful  who  suffered  from  the  toothache,  had 
only  to  pray,  look  at  them,  and  be  cured." 2 

1  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  pp.  374  f. 

;C.  Mackay,  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions,  II,  p.  304. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  105 

The  miracles  performed  at  the  tomb  of  the 
Deacon  Paris  in  the  cemetery  of  St.  Medard  are  of 
comparatively  recent  occurrence,  and  well  attested. 
For  example,  we  have  the  case  of  "la  demoiselle 
Coirin,"  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary. "In  1716,"  says  Dearmer,  "this  lady,  then 
aged  thirty-one,  fell  from  her  horse;  paralysis  and 
an  ulcer  followed;  by  1719  the  ulcer  was  in  a  horrible 
condition;  in  1720  her  mother  refused  an  operation 
preferring  to  let  her  die  hi  peace.  In  1731 — after 
fifteen  years  of  an  open  breast — she  asked  a  woman 
to  say  a  novena  at  the  tomb  of  Frangois  de  Paris, 
to  touch  the  tomb  with  her  shift,  and  to  bring  back 
some  earth.  This  was  done  on  August  10th;  on  the 
llth  she  put  on  the  shift  and  at  once  felt  improved; 
on  the  12th  she  touched  the  wound  with  the  earth 
and  it  at  once  began  to  heal.  By  the  end  of  August 
the  skin  was  completely  healed  up,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 24th  she  went  out  of  doors."  1 

Among  the  most  noted  relics  at  the  present  time 
are  the  Holy  Coat  of  Treves,2  the  Winding-sheet  of 
Christ  at  Besancon,  and  the  Santa  Scala  at  Rome. 
The  last  are  said  to  be  the  steps  which  Jesus  as- 
cended and  descended  when  he  was  brought  be- 
fore Pontius  Pilate,  and  are  held  in  great  veneration. 
It  is  sacrilegious  to  walk  upon  them;  the  knees  of 
the  faithful  alone  must  touch  them,  and  that  only 

1  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  pp.  105  f. 

2  R.  F.  Clarke,  The  Holy  Coat  of  Treves. 


106  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

after  they  have  reverently  kissed  them.    Cures  are 
still  performed  by  all  these  relics. 

The  two  shrines  at  present  best  known  and  which 
have  proved  most  efficacious  are  those  of  Lourdes 
in  France 1  and  St.  Anne  de  Beaupre  in  the  province 
of  Quebec.  Lourdes  owes  its  reputed  healing 
power  to  a  belief  in  a  vision  of  the  Virgin  received 
there  during  the  last  century.  Over  300,000  per- 
sons visit  there  every  year,  and  no  small  proportion 
of  them  return  with  health  restored  as  a  reward  for 
their  faith.  At  Lourdes  and  many  other  shrines 
bathing  forms  a  part  of  the  ceremony,  and  on  ac- 
count of  the  unsanitary  conditions  in  the  former 
place,  there  is  some  danger  that  the  French  Govern- 
ment will  cause  its  abandonment.  Charcot,  who  es- 
tablished the  Salpe"triere  hospital  where  hypnotism 
was  so  successfully  used,  sent  fifty  or  sixty  patients 
to  Lourdes  every  year.  He  was  firmly  convinced  of 
the  healing  power  of  faith.  One  commendable  feat- 
ure of  the  management  at  Lourdes  is  the  opportu- 
nity given  for  investigation;  in  fact,  this  is  courted. 
Most  of  the  sick  bring  medical  details  of  their 
diseases;  an  examining  committee  of  medical  men 


1  A.  T.  Myers  and  F.  W.  H.  Myers,  "Mind  Cure,  Faith  Cure,  and 
the  Miracles  at  Lourdes,"  Proceedings  Society  Psychical  Research, 
IX,  pp.  160-409;  E.  Berdoe,  "A  Medical  View  of  the  Miracles  at 
Lourdes,"  Nineteenth  Century,  October,  1895;  J.  B.  Estrade,  Les 
apparitions  de  Lourdes,  Souvenirs  intimes  d'un  temoin;  H.  Bernheim, 
Suggestive  Therapeutics,  pp.  200-202;  A.  Imbert-Gourbyzee,  LaStig- 
matisation,  I'extase  divine,  et  les  miracles  de  Lourdes,  II,  chaps.  XXI 
and  XXVII;  E.  Zola,  Lourdes. 


EELICS  AND  SHRINES  107 

examine  them  after  they  arrive  there  and  after  the 
cure.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty  doctors  visit 
there  every  year,  and  the  widest  opportunity  is 
given  to  them  for  examination  of  the  cases,  regard- 
less of  their  nationality  or  religious  belief  or  scep- 
ticism. This  attitude  might  well  be  assumed  by 
these  in  control  of  other  shrines  or  of  healing  cults. 

In  America  thousands  flock  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Anne  de  Beaupre  annually.  Here  are  to  be  found 
bones,  supposed  to  be  the  wrist  bones  of  the  holy 
mother  of  the  Virgin,  and  many  sufferers  are  able 
to  testify  to  their  value  in  the  healing  of  various 
diseases. 

On  all  parts  of  the  Continent  there  are  shrines  of 
more  or  less  renown  as  healing  centres.  In  Nor- 
mandy the  springs  of  Fecamp  or  Grand- Andely  are 
much  frequented;  in  Austria,  at  Mariazell,  Styria, 
the  church  is  visited  by  two  hundred  thousand  pil- 
grims a  year,  and  has  been  a  centre  of  healing  since 
1157;  in  Italy,  the  church  of  S.  Maria  delP  Arco, 
near  Naples,  has  been  a  local  Lourdes  for  four  hun- 
dred years,  and  here,  as  at  Amalfi,  Palermo,  and 
other  places,  the  ancient  practice  of  incubation  is 
still  prevalent.  The  adherents  of  the  Eastern  Church 
also  have  their  shrines,  and  among  the  visitors  to 
the  shrines  of  Greece,  many  pilgrims  are  rewarded 
for  their  faith  by  being  healed. 

It  is  curious  to  remark  the  avidity  manifested  in 
all  ages,  and  in  all  countries,  to  obtain  possession  of 


108  RELICS  AND  SHRINES 

some  relic  of  any  person  who  had  been  much  spoken 
of,  if  for  nothing  more  than  for  his  crimes.1  Snuff- 
boxes made  from  Shakespeare's  mulberry-tree,  twigs 
from  Napoleon's  willow,  or  bullets  from  the  field  of 
Waterloo  have  all  been  much  sought  after.  Souve- 
nirs of  everything  and  anything  are  still  much 
in  demand.  It  is  within  the  last  decade  that  a 
foreign  war-ship  anchored  in  New  York  harbor,  and 
after  the  officers  courteously  opened  the  ship  for 
the  inspection  of  visitors  they  found  that  even  their 
silver  toilet  articles  and  plate  had  been  carried  away 
by  the  relic  maniacs.  A  United  States  admiral, 
rather  more  facetiously  than  patriotically,  remarked 
that  "the  American  people  of  to-day  would  steal 
anything  but  a  cellarful  of  water."  I  suppose  the 
remark,  so  far  as  it  applies  to  the  relic-crazed  crowd, 
would  be  as  applicable  to  any  other  people  of  any 
other  tune. 

We  have  a  right  to  ask,  in  closing  this  chapter, 
how  it  was  possible  for  men  to  believe  in  the  power 
of  relics  to  cure  diseases.  The  practice  seems  to 
have  developed  from  the  reasoning  that  the  saints 
who  helped  men  while  in  the  imperfections  of  the 
flesh,  could  be  of  even  more  benefit  when  they  were 
with  God  in  the  perfections  of  the  spiritual  life. 
St.  Augustine  (426),  for  example,  speaks  of  com- 
paring the  wonders  performed  by  pagan  "deities 
with  our  dead  men,"  and  that  the  miracles  wrought 

1  C.  Mackay,  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions,  II,  p.  306. 


RELICS  AND  SHRINES  109 

by  idols  "are  in  no  way  comparable  to  the  wonders 
wrought  by  our  martyrs."  Some  might  agree  with 
this,  and  yet  find  no  warrant  for  using  relics.  There 
was,  however,  the  remembrance  of  the  dead  man 
who  was  restored  to  life  by  contact  with  the  bones 
of  Elisha,  and  of  the  handkerchiefs  and  aprons 
which  touched  Paul's  body  and  were  thereby  filled 
with  healing  efficacy.  Even  to-day  we  do  not  fail 
to  recognize  the  value  of  the  association  of  places 
and  objects,  and  one  finds  it  difficult  to  enter  West- 
minster Abbey,  for  instance,  without  feeling  a  thrill 
on  account  of  the  sacred  clay  reposing  there.  When 
we  remember  the  beginning  of  the  use  of  relics  in 
the  catacombs  we  can  better  understand  the  devel- 
opment of  the  practice. 


CHAPTER  V 
HEALERS 

"This  is  an  art 

Which  doth  mend  nature — but 
The  art  itself  is  nature." — Winter's  Tale. 

"  Some  are  molested  by  Phantasie;  so  some,  again,  by  Fancy  alone 
and  a  good  conceit,  are  as  easily  recovered.  .  .  .  All  the  world 
knows  there  is  no  virtue  in  charms,  &c.,  but  a  strong  conceit  and 
opinion  alone,  as  Pomponatius  holds,  which  forceth  a  motion  of  the 
humours,  spirits,  and  blood,  which  takes  away  the  cause  of  the 
malady  from  the  parts  affected.  The  like  we  may  say  of  the  mag- 
ical effects,  superstitious  cures,  and  such  as  are  done  by  monte- 
banks  and  wizards.  As  by  wicked  incredulity  many  are  hurt  (so 
saith  Wierus),  we  find,  in  our  experience,  by  the  same  means,  many 
are  relieved." 

IN  discussing  the  subject  of  healers  one  must  keep 
in  mind  the  fact  that  the  healers  of  the  first  millen- 
nium of  our  era  were  almost  wholly  exorcists,  on 
account  of  the  prevailing  theory,  and  even  after  that 
tune  exorcism,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  faith  in 
relics  and  shrines  on  the  other,  formed  the  principal 
means  of  cure.  It  is  therefore  difficult  to  differen- 
tiate the  other  healers  from  the  exorcists,  and  to 
decide  whether  certain  cures  were  performed  by 
healers  or  by  relics. 

Another  difficulty  confronts  us.  Many  authentic 
cures  have  probably  been  wrought  by  saints,  but 

unfortunately  most  of  those  performed  by  them 

no 


HEALERS  111 

have  little  contemporary  evidence  to  support  them, 
but  rest  on  the  very  shaky  testimony  of  tradition. 
White/  in  a  keen  analysis,  shows  how  the  legends 
of  miraculous  cures  have  grown  around  great  bene- 
factors of  humanity,  taking  Francis  Xavier  as  a 
pertinent  example. 

We  must  also  remember,  however,  that  what  are 
called  miracles  formed  part  of  the  evidence  which 
led  to  the  canonization  of  a  saint,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  healing  miracles  was  usually  included  in  the 
list.  The  procedure  of  the  court  connected  with 
the  canonization  was  conducted  with  the  greatest 
rigor.  Sitting  as  examiners  were  learned  and  up- 
right men  from  all  nations,  and  the  witness  must  be 
irreproachable  as  far  as  character  was  concerned. 
The  two  witnesses  required  for  each  miracle  must 
testify  concerning  the  nature  of  the  disease  and  the 
cure,  and  sign  the  deposition  after  it  had  been  read 
to  them.  Following  that,  the  examiners  sifted  the 
evidence  in  a  hypercritical  way  and  emphasized  the 
weak  places.  Benedict  XIV  justly  said:  "The  de- 
gree of  proof  required  is  the  same  as  that  required 
for  a  criminal  case,  since  the  cause  of  religion  and 
piety  is  that  of  the  commonweal."  Some  consid- 
eration must  be  thus  given  to  this  testimony,  but 
the  value  of  it  depends  on  the  number  of  years 
elapsing  after  the  cures  were  performed  and  the 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II, 
pp.  6-22. 


112  HEALERS 

direct  connection  of  the  witnesses  with  the  cure  in 
question. 

The  craving  for  the  miraculous  in  bodily  cures 
prejudiced  many  historians,  especially  when  the  de- 
sire to  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  church  was 
uppermost  in  the  minds  of  the  writers.  We  can 
consider,  though,  the  material  at  hand,  always 
recognizing  that  marvellous  cures  can  be  performed 
when  the  authority  of  the  physician  has  all  the 
weight  of  an  infallible  church  behind  it  and  the 
patient  is  credulous.  We  must  notice  in  this  con- 
nection that  the  healers  up  to  the  time  of  the  mag- 
netizers  depended  on  religious  ceremonies  for  their 
efficiency,  with  the  exception  of  those  who  endorsed 
and  propagated  "sympathetic  cures." 

As  we  well  know,  the  first  healing  among  Chris- 
tians was  done  by  Jesus  himself  and  the  apostles; 
after  this  for  two  centuries  the  exorcists  performed 
most  of  the  cures.  We  have  accounts  of  one  non- 
Christian  healer  whose  cures  have  probably  been 
handed  down  to  us  on  account  of  his  exalted  posi- 
tion. Tacitus  and  Suetonius  describe  how  Ves- 
pasian (9-79)  healed  in  at  least  two  cases.  The 
first  was  a  blind  man  well  known  in  Alexandria. 
In  the  second  case  the  historians  disagree;  one  says 
it  was  a  leg  and  the  other  a  hand  which  was  dis- 
eased and  cured.  According  to  the  story,  the  god 
Serapis  revealed  to  the  patients  that  they  would  be 
cured  by  the  emperor.  Tacitus  says  that  Vespasian 


HEALERS  113 

did  not  believe  in  his  own  power  and  it  was  only 
after  much  persuasion  that  he  was  induced  to  try 
the  experiment.1 

The  Christians,  however,  were  not  to  be  outdone 
as  healers.  Irenseus  (130-202)  gives  a  long  list  of 
infirmities  which  were  cured  by  the  representatives 
of  *he  church,  and  in  writing,  about  the  year  180, 
draws  a  comparison  between  them  and  the  heretics. 
"For  they  [the  heretics]  can  neither  confer  sight  on 
the  blind  nor  hearing  on  the  deaf,  nor  chase  away 
all  sorts  of  demons  (except  those  which  are  sent 
into  others  by  themselves — if  they  can  ever  do  as 
much  as  this):  nor  can  they  cure  the  weak,  or  the 
lame,  or  the  paralytic;  or  those  who  are  distressed 
in  any  other  part  of  the  body,  as  has  often  been  done 
in  regard  to  bodily  infirmity.  Nor  can  they  fur- 
nish effective  remedies  for  those  external  accidents 
which  may  occur.  And  so  far  are  they  from  being 
able  to  raise  the  dead,  as  the  Lord  raised  them 
(and  the  Apostles  did  by  means  of  prayer,  as  has 
been  frequently  done  in  the  brotherhood  on  ac- 
count of  some  necessity — the  entire  church  in  that 
particular  locality  entreating  with  much  fasting  and 
prayer,  the  spirit  of  the  dead  man  has  returned,  and 
he  has  been  bestowed  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
the  saints — )  that  they  do  not  even  believe  that  this 
could  possibly  be  done."  He  further  says:  "Others 
again  heal  the  sick  by  laying  their  hands  upon  them, 

1 W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  I,  pp.  347  f. 


114  HEAJLERS 

and  they  are  made  whole.  Yea,  moreover,  as  I  have 
said,-  the  dead  even  have  been  raised  up,  and  re- 
mained among  us  for  many  years." 

The  great  Origen  (185-254),  writing  when  he 
would  be  certain  to  have  his  words  most  severely 
criticised,  says,  after  referring  to  the  miracles  of 
the  apostles:  "And  there  are  still  preserved  among 
Christians  traces  of  that  Holy  Spirit  which  appeared 
in  the  form  of  a  dove.  They  expel  evil  spirits,  and 
perform  many  cures,  and  foresee  certain  events,  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  the  Logos."  In  another  of 
his  works  we  find  the  following:  "For  they  [the 
Jews]  have  no  longer  prophets  or  miracles,  traces  of 
which  to  a  considerable  extent  are  still  found  among 
Christians,  and  some  of  them  more  remarkable  than 
ever  have  existed  among  the  Jews;  and  these  we 
ourselves  have  witnessed." 

As  has  already  been  seen,  different  methods  were 
used  by  various  healers,  and  we  must  not  omit  a 
brief  account  of  healing  by  unction.  The  very  defi- 
nite instructions  laid  down  in  the  Epistle  of  James 
were  evidently  strictly  carried  out  in  the  early 
church,  but  the  first  definite  mention  of  anointing 
after  that  made  by  Mark  and  James  is  found  in  the 
writings  of  Tertullian  (160-220).  He  speaks  of  the 
pagan  emperor  Severus  being  graciously  mindful  of 
Christians:  "For  he  sought  out  the  Christian  Pro- 
culus,  surnamed  Torpacion,  the  steward  of  Euho- 
.  dias,  and  in  gratitude  for  his  having  once  cured  him 


HEALERS  115 

by  anointing,  he  kept  him  in  his  palace  till  the  day 
of  his  death."  l 

If  the  Christians  anointed  pagans  it  is  legitimate 
to  suppose  that  they  also  anointed  fellow-Christians, 
and  that  if  this  was  performed  without  special  men- 
tion about  the  end  of  the  second  century,  it  must 
have  been  common  from  the  time  of  James  to  that 
period.  It  is  probable  that  during  the  first  seven 
centuries  of  our  era  the  practice  of  praying  with  the 
sick  and  anointing  them  with  oil  never  ceased. 
There  may  be  some  objection  to  our  considering  the 
subject  of  anointing  with  oil  as  purely  mental  heal- 
ing, but  according  to  the  instructions  given  for  its 
use  there  was  scarcely  enough  oil  employed  to  be 
of  benefit  otherwise,  and  especially  as  food.  Mental 
healing,  then,  is  the  rationale  of  the  cures. 

Puller2  gives  us  three  of  the  earliest  incidents  of 
healing  by  unction,  the  original  accounts  all  being 
written  by  contemporaries  and  friends.  Some  time 
between  the  years  335  and  355,  St.  Parthenius, 
Bishop  of  Lampsacus,  anointed  a  man  who  was 
described  as  "altogether  withered."  The  account 
says:  "Then  getting  up,  he  gently  and  gradually 
softened  the  man's  body  with  the  holy  oil,  and 
straightway  made  him  to  rise  up  healed."  Refinus, 
a  well-known  writer  and  an  eye-witness  to  this  heal- 

1  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  pp.  252  f.  I  am  indebted  to  this 
excellent  book  for  my  material  on  the  subject  of  Unction,  as  well  as 
for  many  other  quotations  in  this  chapter. 

*  F.  W.  Puller,  Anointing  of  the  Sick,  pp.  155-158. 


116  HEALERS 

ing,  tells  of  St.  Macarius  of  Alexandria  and  four 
monks  restoring,  about  the  year  375,  "a  man,  with- 
ered in  all  his  limbs  and  especially  in  his  feet."  He 
says:  "But  when  he  had  been  anointed  all  over  by 
them  with  oil  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord,  immediately 
the  soles  of  his  feet  were  strengthened.  And  when 
they  said  to  him,  'In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  .  .  . 
arise,  and  stand  on  thy  feet,  and  return  to  thy 
house/  immediately  arising  and  leaping,  he  blessed 
God."  Some  years  later,  Palladius,  the  friend  of  St. 
Chrysostom,  writes  of  another  of  St.  Macarius's  cures 
which  he  witnessed:  "But  at  the  time  that  we  were 
there,  there  was  brought  to  him  from  Thessalonica 
a  noble  and  wealthy  virgin,  who  during  many  years 
had  been  suffering  from  paralysis.  And  when  she 
had  been  presented  to  him,  and  had  been  thrown 
down  before  the  cell  of  the  blessed  man,  he,  being 
moved  with  compassion  for  her,  with  his  own  hands 
anointed  her  during  twenty  days  with  holy  oil, 
pouring  out  prayers  for  her  to  the  Lord,  and  so  sent 
her  back  cured  to  her  own  city." 

The  Sacramentary  of  Serapion,  Bishop  of  Thmuis, 
Egypt,  written  about  350,  provides  for  the  conse- 
cration of  bread  and  water,  as  well  as  oil,  for  healing; 
and  in  a  prayer  concerning  oil  and  water  there  con- 
tained, the  following  words  are  used:  "Grant  heal- 
ing power  upon  these  creatures,  that  every  fever 
and  every  demon  and  every  sickness  may  depart 
through  the  drinking  and  the  anointing,  and  that 


HEALERS  117 

the  partaking  of  these  creatures  may  be  a  healing 
medicine  and  a  medicine  of  complete  soundness  in 
the  Name  of  the  Only  begotten,  Jesus  Christ,"  etc. 
The  Apostolic  Constitutions  of  about  375  contain 
a  prayer  of  consecration  used  over  oil  and  water 
brought  by  members  of  the  congregation,  as  fol- 
lows: "Do  thou  now  sanctify  this  water  and  this 
oil,  through  Christ,  in  the  name  of  him  that  offered 
or  of  her  that  offered,  and  give  to  these  things  a 
power  of  producing  health  and  of  driving  away 
diseases,  of  putting  to  flight  demons,  of  dispersing 
every  snare  through  Christ  our  Hope,"  etc. 

About  390,  St.  Jerome  wrote  a  life  of  St.  Hilarion 
(291-371)  in  which  the  latter  is  thus  set  forth  as  a 
healer:  "But  lo!  that  parched  and  sandy  district, 
after  the  rain  had  fallen,  unexpectedly  produced 
such  vast  numbers  of  serpents  and  poisonous  ani- 
mals that  many,  who  were  bitten,  would  have  died 
at  once  if  they  had  not  run  to  Hilarion.  He  there- 
fore blessed  some  oil,  with  which  all  the  husband- 
men and  shepherds  touched  their  wounds  and  found 
an  infallible  cure." 

Oil  was  not  always  employed  for  anointing,  but 
might  be  drunk  by  the  sick,  and  this  use  of  it  was 
made  in  healing  a  girl,  by  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  about 
395.  St.  Germain,  Bishop  of  Auxerre  (418-448), 
when  the  physicians  were  powerless  during  a  plague, 
blessed  some  oil  and  anointed  the  swollen  jaws  of 
those  who  were  sick,  whereupon  they  recovered; 


118  HEALERS 

and  St.  Genevieve  of  Paris,  who  died  about  502, 
used  to  heal  the  sick  with  oil. 

In  Bede's  biography  of  St.  Cuthbert  we  find  an 
instance  of  this  saint  healing  a  girl  about  the  year 
687.  A  young  woman  was  troubled  for  a  whole 
year  with  an  intolerable  pain  in  her  head  and  side 
which  the  physicians  were  unable  to  relieve.  Cuth- 
bert "in  pity  anointed  the  wretched  woman  with 
oil.  From  that  time  she  began  to  get  better,  and 
was  well  in  a  few  days." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  the 
anointing  of  the  sick  began  to  decline,  largely  on 
account  of  the  changed  attitude  of  the  church.  At 
this  time  this  ceremony  began  to  be  used  for  spir- 
itual ills  rather  than  for  bodily  diseases.  Before 
long,  anointing  was  monopolized  by  the  church  for 
spiritual  advantage,  and  is  still  so  used  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  ceremony  of  Ex- 
treme Unction. 

In  returning  to  the  more  direct  methods  of  heal- 
ing, we  find  that  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  (329- 
390)  confirmed  the  reports  of  the  marvellous  cures 
wrought  by  the  martyrs,  Cosmo  and  Damian,  who 
were  beheaded  in  303.  During  the  life  of  Gregory 
of  Tours  (538-594),  the  healing  efficacy  of  the  saints' 
relics  was  rivalled  by  the  miraculous  aid  rendered 
to  the  sick  by  St.  Julian.  The  solitude  of  the  holy 
anchorite  was  interrupted  by  the  persistent  and 
despairing  clamor  of  the  sick  to  whom  he  gave 


HEALERS  119 

health.  The  great  Turonese  pontiff  also  tells  us 
that  one  day  Aredius,  traversing  Paris,  found  Chil- 
peric  prostrate  with  a  grievous  fever.  The  royal 
sufferer  sought  the  saint's  prayers  as  an  irresistible 
curative. 

The  daughter  of  a  Teutonic  nobleman  was  brought 
to  St.  Gall  (556-640)  seriously  ill  with  an  incurable 
disorder,  presenting  the  livid  appearance  of  an  ani- 
mated cadaver.  The  saint  approached  the  uncon- 
scious invalid  as  she  reclined  on  her  mother's  knee, 
and  assuming  the  bended  attitude  of  invocation  by 
her  side,  made  a  fervent  prayer  and  evoked  the 
demon  producing  the  sickness  to  instantly  depart. 
The  effort  was  all  that  was  desired.  Shortly  after 
this,  about  the  year  648,  St.  Vardrille,  the  founder 
of  Fontanelle,  exercised  his  remedial  potency  in 
healing  the  palsied  arm  of  a  forester  whose  indis- 
creet zeal  had  induced  him  to  transfix  the  sainted 
abbot  with  a  lance. 

We  have  rather  a  strange  case  from  the  beginning 
of  the  seventh  century,  where  the  moral  and  mental 
element  seems  to  have  been  strong.  Abbe  Eusta- 
sius  returning  from  Rome,  whither  a  mission  of 
Clothair  II  had  called  him,  was  urgently  summoned 
by  the  sorrowful  parent  of  a  Burgundian  maiden,  in 
the  last  agonies  of  a  frightful  malady,  to  appear  and 
cure  the  moribund  daughter.  On  answering  the  call 
he  found  that  the  child  had  in  her  youth  been  con- 
secrated by  the  vows  of  chastity,  and  on  account 


120  HEALERS 

of  this  shrunk  from  a  marriage  sanctioned  by  her 
parents.  Eustasius  reproached  the  father  for  his 
efforts  to  violate  the  solemn  obligations  of  the 
virgin,  and  upon  obtaining  a  formal  renunciation  of 
further  attempts  to  coerce  her  into  matrimony,  the 
saint,  by  personal  intercession,  obtained  a  complete 
cure. 

It  was  found  that  certain  remedies  in  the  hands 
of  certain  saints  were  efficacious,  but  they  did  not 
have  the  same  power  if  administered  by  others. 
For  instance,  Franciscus  de  Paula  succored  an  an- 
chylosed  joint  by  the  energetic  surgery  of  three 
dried  figs  which  he  gave  the  suffering  patient  to  eat. 
Similarly,  a  maiden  grieving  under  a  cancerous 
disease  which  surgical  skill  had  frankly  admitted 
was  incurable,  was  restored  to  robust  vigor  by  the 
administering  of  some  mild  herbs.  This  savored 
rather  too  much  of  medicine,  and  other  holy  healers 
used  more  orthodox  means.  Hugo  the  Holy  ab- 
stracted a  serpent  from  the  infirm  body  of  a  woman 
by  the  use  of  holy  water,  and  Coleta,  the  saintess, 
awakened  from  the  dreamless  slumber  of  death 
more  than  one  hundred  slain  infants  by  the  effi- 
cacy of  a  cross. 

Even  such  a  serious  disorder  as  leprosy  was  said 
to  have  been  healed  by  saintly  care.  St.  Martin, 
who  gave  special  attention  to  sufferers  with  this 
disease,  cured  a  leper  by  kissing  him,  we  are  told. 
Toward  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  St.  Hade- 


HEALERS  121 

gonde  displayed  her  faith  by  first  washing  the  re- 
pulsive sores  and  afterward  applying  her  pure 
lips  to  them.  On  one  occasion  an  insolent  leper 
asserted  that  unless  his  putrefying  limbs  were  kissed 
by  this  candidate  for  canonical  honors  he  could 
not  be  cured.1 

Bede  (673-735),  the  great  English  historian,  in 
his  careful  way  tells  us  of  cures  performed  by  St. 
John  of  Beverly  during  the  first  part  of  the  eighth 
century.  According  to  this  record,  St.  John  cured 
a  dumb  youth,  who  had  never  spoken  a  word,  by 
the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his  tongue,  and  he  after- 
ward had  "ready  utterance."  He  used  holy  water 
on  a  woman  so  that,  like  Peter's  wife's  mother,  she 
arose  and  ministered  to  them,  healed  a  friend  who 
was  injured  by  being  thrown  from  a  horse,  cured  a 
nun  of  a  grievous  complaint,  and  restored  a  ser- 
vant, an  account  of  which  I  shall  give  in  Bede's 
words: 

"The  bishop  went  in  and  saw  him  in  a  dying  con- 
dition, and  the  coffin  by  his  side,  whilst  all  present 
were  in  tears.  He  said  a  prayer,  blessed  him,  and 
on  going  out,  as  is  the  usual  expression  of  comforters, 
said,  'May  you  soon  recover.'  Afterwards  when 
they  were  sitting  at  table,  the  lad  sent  to  his  lord, 
to  desire  he  would  let  him  have  a  cup  of  wine,  be- 
cause he  was  thirsty.  The  earl,  rejoicing  that  he 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
gives  this  and  the  other  incidents  just  quoted.  See  pp.  155,  160, 
272,  275,  327. 


122  HEALERS 

could  drink,  sent  him  a  cup  of  wine,  blessed  by  the 
bishop;  which,  as  soon  as  he  had  drunk,  he  imme- 
diately got  up,  and  shaking  off  his  late  infirmity, 
dressed  himself,  and  going  in  to  the  bishop,  saluted 
him  and  the  other  guests,  saying,  'He  would  also 
eat  and  be  merry  with  them.7  They  ordered  him 
to  sit  down  with  them  at  the  entertainment,  rejoic- 
ing at  his  recovery.  He  sat  down,  ate  and  drank 
merrily,  and  behaved  himself  like  the  rest  of  the 
company;  and  living  many  years  after,  continued 
in  the  same  state  of  health."  * 


Skipping  a  few  centuries,  we  find  that  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux  (1091-1153),  the  most  prominent  figure 
of  the  twelfth  century,  performed  an  abundance  of 
cures,  as  his  biographers  testify.  "The  cures  were 
so  many  that  the  witnesses  themselves  were  unable 
to  detail  them  all.  At  Doningen,  near  Rheinfeld, 
where  the  first  Sunday  of  Advent  was  spent,  Ber- 
nard cured,  in  one  day,  nine  blind  persons,  ten  who 
were  deaf  or  dumb,  and  eighteen  lame  or  paralytic. 
On  the  following  Wednesday,  at  Schaffhausen,  the 
number  of  miracles  increased."1  Concerning  these 
cures  Morison  says:  "Thirty-six  miraculous  cures 
in  one  day  would  seem  to  have  been  the  largest 
stretch  of  supernatural  power  which  Bernard  per- 
mitted to  himself.  The  halt,  the  blind,  the  deaf, 
and  the  dumb  were  brought  from  all  parts  to  be 
touched  by  Bernard.  The  patient  was  presented 

1  Bede,  Ecclesiastical  History,  bk.  V,  chap.  V. 
*  Quoted  by  P.  Dearmer,  Body  and  Soul,  p.  359. 


HEALERS  123 

to  him,  whereupon  he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross 
over  the  part  affected,  and  the  cure  was  perfect."  l 
The  following  case  in  which  details  are  more  fully 
given  is  of  much  interest:  "At  Toulouse,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Saturninus,  in  which  we  were  lodged, 
was  a  certain  regular  canon,  named  John.  John 
had  kept  his  bed  for  seven  months,  and  was  so  re- 
duced that  his  death  was  expected  daily.  His  legs 
were  so  shrunken  that  they  were  scarcely  larger  than 
a  child's  arms.  He  was  quite  unable  to  rise  to  satisfy 
the  wants  of  nature.  At  last  his  brother  canons 
refused  to  tolerate  his  presence  any  longer  among 
them,  and  thrust  him  out  into  the  neighbouring  vil- 
lage. When  the  poor  creature  heard  of  Bernard's 
proximity,  he  implored  to  be  taken  to  him.  Six 
men,  therefore,  carrying  him  as  he  lay  in  bed,  brought 
him  into  a  room  close  to  that  in  which  he  was  lodged. 
The  abbot  heard  him  confess  his  sins,  and  listened 
to  his  entreaties  to  be  restored  to  health.  Bernard 
mentally  prayed  to  God:  'Behold,  0  Lord,  they 
seek  for  a  sign,  and  our  words  avail  nothing,  unless 
they  be  confirmed  with  signs  following.'  He  then 
blessed  him  and  left  the  chamber,  and  so  did  we  all. 
In  that  very  hour  the  sick  man  arose  from  his  couch, 
and  running  after  Bernard,  kissed  his  feet  with  a 
devotion  which  cannot  be  imagined  by  any  one 
who  did  not  see  it.  One  of  the  canons,  meeting 

1  J.  Cotter  Morison,  Life  and  Times  of  St.  Bernard,  pp.  422  and 
460,  for  this  and  the  following  incident. 


124  HEALERS 

him,  nearly  fainted  with  fright,  thinking  he  saw  his 
ghost." 

St.  Francis  of  Assisi  (1182-1226),  the  great  founder 
of  the  Franciscan  Order,  was  not  less  famed  for  his 
miracles  of  healing  than  for  his  Christ-like  life  and 
his  stigmata.  Among  those  cured  were  epileptics, 
paralytics,  and  the  blind.  A  typical  case  of  cure  by 
this  humble  saint  is  given  to  show  his  method  and 
its  results:  "Once  when  Francis  the  Saint  of  God 
was  making  a  long  circuit  through  various  regions 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  God's  kingdom  he  came  to 
a  city  called  Toscanella.  Here  ...  he  was  enter- 
tained by  a  knight  of  that  same  city  whose  only  son 
was  a  cripple  and  weak  in  all  his  body.  Though 
the  child  was  of  tender  years  he  had  passed  the  age 
of  weaning;  but  he  still  remained  in  a  cradle.  The 
boy's  father,  seeing  the  man  of  God  to  be  endued 
with  such  holiness,  humbly  fell  at  his  feet  and  be- 
sought hmi  to  heal  his  son.  Francis,  deeming  him- 
self to  be  unprofitable  and  unworthy  of  such  power 
and  grace,  for  a  long  time  refused  to  do  it.  At  last, 
conquered  by  the  urgency  of  the  knight's  entreaties, 
after  offering  up  prayer,  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  boy, 
blessed  him,  and  lifted  him  up.  And  in  the  sight 
of  all,  the  boy  straightway  arose  whole  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  began  to  walk  hither 
and  thither  about  the  house."  ' 

1  Thomas  of  Celano,  Lives  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  (trans.  A.  G.  F. 
Howell). 


HEALERS  125 

St.  Thomas  of  Hereford  (1222-1282)  was  the  last 
Englishman  to  be  officially  canonized.  The  extant 
documents  of  his  canonization  record  no  less  than 
four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  miracles  alleged  to 
have  been  performed  by  him.  The  following  case 
of  resurrection  from  the  dead  occurred,  however, 
twenty-one  years  after  his  death.  I  quote  the  ac- 
count in  full: 

"On  the  6th  of  September,  1303,  Roger,  aged  two 
years  and  three  months,  the  son  of  Gervase,  one  of 
the  warders  of  Con  way  Castle,  managed  to  crawl  out 
of  bed  in  the  night  and  tumble  off  a  bridge,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty-eight  feet;  he  was  not  discovered 
till  the  next  morning,  when  his  mother  found  him 
half  naked  and  quite  dead  upon  a  hard  stone  at 
the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  where  there  was  no  water 
or  earth,  but  simply  the  rock,  which  had  been  quar- 
ried to  build  the  castle.  Simon  Waterford,  the 
vicar,  who  had  christened  the  child,  John  de  Bois, 
John  Guffe,  all  sworn  witnesses,  took  their  oaths  on 
the  Gospel  that  they  saw  and  handled  the  child 
dead.  The  King's  Crowners  (Stephen  Ganny  and 
William  Nottingham)  were  presently  called  and 
went  down  into  the  moat.  They  found  the  child's 
body  cold  and  stiff,  and  white  with  hoar-frost, 
stark  dead,  indeed.  While  the  Crowners,  as  their 
office  requires,  began  to  write  what  they  had  seen, 
one  John  Syward,  a  near  neighbour,  came  down 
and  gently  handled  the  child's  body  all  over,  and 
finding  it  as  dead  as  ever  any,  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross  upon  its  forehead,  and  earnestly  prayed  after 
this  manner:  ' Blessed  St.  Thomas  Cantelope,  you 
by  whom  God  has  wrought  innumerable  miracles, 


126  HEALERS 

show  mercy  unto  this  little  infant,  and  obtain  he 
may  return  to  life  again.  If  this  grace  be  granted 
he  shall  visit  your  holy  sepulchre  and  render  humble 
thanks  to  God  and  you  for  the  favor.'  No  sooner 
had  Syward  spoken  these  words,  than  the  child  be- 
gan to  move  his  head  and  right  arm  a  little,  and 
forthwith  life  and  vigor  came  back  again  into  every 
part  of  his  body.  The  Crowners,  and  many  others 
who  were  standing  by,  saw  the  miracle,  and  in  that 
very  place,  with  great  admiration,  returned  humble 
thanks  to  God  and  St.  Thomas  for  what  they  had 
seen.  The  mother,  now  overjoyed,  took  the  child  in 
her  arms,  and  went  that  day  to  hear  mass  in  a 
church  not  far  off,  where,  upon  her  knees,  she  recog- 
nized with  a  grateful  heart  that  she  owed  the  life 
of  her  infant  to  God  and  St.  Thomas.  Her  devo- 
tion ended,  she  returned  home,  and  the  child,  feeling 
no  pain  at  all,  walked  as  he  was  wont  to  do  up  and 
down  the  house,  though  a  little  scar  still  continued 
in  one  cheek,  which  after  a  few  days,  quite  vanished 
away."  1 

St.  Catharine  of  Siena  (1347-1380)  obtained  con- 
siderable reputation  as  a  healer,  principally,  how- 
ever, in  the  line  of  exorcism;  this,  though,  meant 
the  cure  of  any  disease.  Like  St.  Paul,  she  was  one 
of  a  large  number  of  saints  who  healed  others  but 
did  not  cure  herself;  she  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
three.  A  woman  was  presented  to  the  immaculate 
saintess  for  prompt  remedy;  by  the  virtue  of  divine 
magic  a  demon  was  forced  from  each  part  of  her 
body  where  he  had  taken  refuge,  but  resisting  ab- 

1  Dublin  Review,  January,  1876,  pp.  8-10. 


HEALERS  127 

solute  ejectment  from  this  carnal  abode,  made  a 
desperate  conflict  in  the  throat,  where  by  uninter- 
rupted scratches  he  reproduced  himself  in  the  form 
of  an  abscess. 

On  another  occasion  the  saint  was  more  successful. 
Laurentia,  a  maiden  of  youthful  years,  placed  by 
her  father  within  the  sheltering  walls  of  a  cloister, 
to  assume  ultimately  monastic  vows,  was  quickly 
captured  by  an  errant  demon.  As  an  irrefutable 
demonstration  of  the  impure  origin  of  her  infirmity, 
an  annalist  asserts,  this  spirit  promptly  answered  in 
elegant  Latinity  all  questions  propounded;  but  the 
strongest  confirmation  of  this  belief  was  the  miracu- 
lous ability  which  enabled  her  to  disclose  the  most 
secret  thoughts  of  others,  and  divulge  the  mys- 
terious affairs  of  her  associates.  St.  Catharine  at 
length  liberated  the  suffering  female  from  her  dia- 
bolical tenant.  More  extraordinary  claims  are  made 
for  her.  It  is  said  that  she  stayed  a  plague  at  Va- 
razze,  and  healed  a  throng  at  Pisa.1 

Raimondo  da  Capua,  her  faithful  friend  and  con- 
stant companion,  wrote  her  biography  and  gives 
us  different  instances  of  remarkable  cures  performed 
by  her.  For  example,  he  tells  us  that  Father  Mat- 
thew of  Cenni,  the  director  of  the  Hospital  of  la 
Misericordia,  was  stricken  when  the  plague  was 
raging  in  Siena  in  1373,  and  of  his  marvellous  cure. 

1 G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
pp.  278  f. 


128  HEALERS 

Perhaps  we  had  better  allow  him  to  tell  of  Catha- 
rine's power  in  his  own  words: 

"One  day  on  entering,  I  saw  some  of  the  brothers 
carrying  Father  Matthew  like  a  corpse  from  the 
chapel  to  his  room;  his  face  was  livid,  and  his 
strength  was  so  far  gone  that  he  could  not  answer 
me  when  I  spoke  to  him.  'Last  night,'  the  brothers 
said,  'about  seven  o'clock,  while  ministering  to  a 
dying  person,  he  perceived  himself  stricken,  and 
fell  at  once  into  extreme  weakness.'  I  helped  to 
put  him  on  his  bed;  ...  he  spoke  afterwards,  and 
said  that  he  felt  as  if  his  head  was  separated  into 
four  parts.  I  sent  for  Dr.  Senso,  his  physician; 
Dr.  Senso  declared  to  me  that  my  friend  had  the 
plague,  and  that  every  symptom  announced  the  ap- 
proach of  death.  'I  fear,'  he  said,  'that  the  House 
of  Mercy  (Misericordia)  is  about  to  be  deprived  of 
its  good  director.7  I  asked  if  medical  art  could  not 
save  him.  'We  shall  see,'  replied  Senso,  'but  I 
have  only  a  very  faint  hope ;  his  blood  is  too  much 
poisoned.'  I  withdrew,  praying  God  to  save  the 
life  of  this  good  man.  Catharine,  however,  had 
heard  of  the  illness  of  Father  Matthew,  whom  she 
loved  sincerely,  and  she  lost  no  time  in  repairing  to 
him.  The  moment  she  entered  the  room,  she  cried, 
with  a  cheerful  voice,  'Get  up,  Father  Matthew, 
get  up!  This  is  not  a  time  to  be  lying  idly  in  bed/ 
Father  Matthew  roused  himself,  sat  up  on  his  bed, 
and  finally  stood  on  his  feet.  Catharine  retired; 
and  the  moment  she  was  leaving  the  house,  I  en- 
tered it,  and  ignorant  of  what  had  happened,  and 
believing  my  friend  to  be  still  at  the  point  of  death, 
my  grief  urged  me  to  say,  'Will  you  allow  a  person 
so  dear  to  us,  and  so  useful  to  others,  to  die?'  She 
appeared  annoyed  at  my  words,  and  replied,  'Ir* 


HEALERS  129 

what  terms  do  you  address  me?  Am  I  like  God,  to 
deliver  a  man  from  death?'  But  I,  beside  myself 
with  sorrow,  pleaded,  'Speak  in  that  way  to  others 
if  you  will,  but  not  to  me;  for  I  know  your  secrets; 
and  I  know  you  obtain  from  God  whatever  you  ask 
in  faith.'  Then  Catharine  bowed  her  head,  and 
smiled  just  a  little;  after  a  few  minutes  she  lifted 
up  her  head  and  looked  at  me  full  in  the  face,  her 
countenance  radiant  with  joy,  and  said,  'Well,  let 
us  take  courage;  he  will  not  die  this  time,'  and  she 
passed  on.  At  these  words  I  banished  all  fear,  for 
I  understood  that  she  had  obtained  some  favor 
from  heaven.  I  went  straight  to  my  sick  friend, 
whom  I  found  sitting  on  the  side  of  his  bed.  'Do 
you  know,'  he  cried,  'what  she  has  done  for  me?' 
He  then  stood  up  and  narrated  joyfully  what  I  have 
here  written.  To  make  the  matter  more  sure,  the 
table  was  laid,  and  Father  Matthew  seated  himself 
at  it  with  us;  they  served  him  with  vegetables  and 
other  light  food,  and  he,  who  an  hour  before  could 
not  open  his  mouth,  ate  with  us,  chatting  and  laugh- 
ing gaily." 

None  of  Catharine's  biographers  fail  to  relate 
wonderful  instances  of  her  healing  power.1 

Martin  Luther  (1483-1546),  the v  great  leader  of 
the  Reformation,  and  St.  Francis  Xavier  (1506- 
1552),  the  leader  of  the  Counter-Reformation,  were 
both  healers,  so  it  is  said.  Luther's  cure  of  his 
friend  and  helper,  Melanchthon,  by  prayer  for  and 
encouragement  of  the  patient,  is  well  known. 
Xavier's  miracles  were  legion,  but  have  been  some- 

1  See  J.  Butler,  Life  of  St.  Catharine  of  Siena,  for  many  examples. 


130  HEALERS 

what  discredited  by  a  recent  author.1  I  add  but 
one  example.  "A  certain  Tome  Paninguem,  a  fen- 
cing-master, says,  I  knew  Antonio  de  Miranda,  who 
was  a  servant  of  the  Father  Francis,  and  assisted 
him  when  saying  Mass.  He  told  me  that  when  go- 
ing one  night  on  business  to  Combature,  he  was 
bitten  by  a  venomous  serpent.  He  immediately  fell 
down  as  though  paralyzed  and  became  speechless. 
He  was  found  thus  lying  unconscious.  Informed  of 
the  fact,  Father  Francis  ordered  Antonio  to  be  car- 
ried to  him:  and  when  he  was  laid  down  speechless 
and  senseless,  the  Father  prayed  with  all  those 
present.  The  prayer  finished,  he  put  a  little  saliva 
with  his  finger  on  the  bitten  place  on  Antonio's 
foot,  and  at  the  same  moment,  Antonio  recovered 
his  senses,  his  memory  and  his  speech,  and  felt  him- 
self healed.  I  have  since  heard  details  of  this  oc- 
currence from  the  mouths  of  several  eye-witnesses."  2 
If  we  accept  Gorres's  account,3  the  most  remarka- 
ble instance  of  curative  power  possessed  by  a  saint 
is  that  afforded  by  St.  Sauveur  of  Horta  (1520- 
1567).  Outside  of  this  one  work  I  have  been  un- 
able to  find  any  reference  to  this  saint,  so  I  will 
give  a  sketch  of  his  apparently  remarkable  life.  He 


1  See  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology, 
already  referred  to. 

3  Jos.  Marie  Cros,  St.  Francois  de  Xavier,  Sa  vie  at  ses  lettres,  II, 
p.  392. 

3  Gorres,  La  mystiqtie  divine  naturelle  et  diabolique  (trans.  Sainte- 
foi),  I,  pp.  470-473. 


HEALERS  131 

was  born  in  Catalonia,  and  received  the  first  part 
of  his  name  from  a  presentiment  of  his  sponsors 
that  he  was  to  be  a  savior  of  men,  and  the  second 
part  because  he  entered  the  monastery  at  Horta. 
A  short  time  after  he  finished  his  novitiate,  people 
in  some  way  got  the  idea  that  he  had  a  wonderful 
gift  of  healing,  and  soon  patients  came  to  him  in 
crowds  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  He  continued 
healing  for  several  years.  At  one  time  during  the 
feast  of  the  Annunciation  he  cured  six  thousand 
persons,  and  at  another  tune  he  found  ten  thousand 
patients,  from  viceroy  to  laborer,  waiting  for  him 
at  Valencia  before  the  convent  of  St.  Marie  de  Jesus. 
Notwithstanding  his  apparently  great  success,  his 
brother  monks  complained  to  the  bishop  concern- 
ing the  dirt  and  disorder  caused  by  the  crowds,  and 
after  a  reprimand  he  was  sent  at  midnight  to  the 
monastery  at  Reus,  where  he  was  known  as  Alphonse 
and  assigned  to  the  kitchen.  In  spite  of  this,  crowds 
continued  to  come  and  he  was  transferred  from 
monastery  to  monastery,  but  always  with  the  same 
result — the  crowd  sought  him  to  be  healed.  He  was 
known  as  simple,  open,  and  obedient  in  his  rela- 
tions with  men,  and  austere  toward  himself.  He 
was  patient  and  resigned,  compassionate  toward 
the  poor  and  sick,  and  full  of  zeal  for  their  conver- 
sion. The  number  of  patients  he  is  said  to  have 
cured  is  incredible,  and  it  is  even  said  that  he  re- 
suscitated three  dead  persons.  After  his  death 


132  HEALERS 

miracles  were  performed  at  his  tomb.  Why  he 
was  not  in  favor  with  his  superiors  and  his  brother 
monks  is  unknown;  his  friends  say  they  were  jeal- 
ous; his  enemies,  that  his  cures  were  not  genuine. 

St.  Philip  Neri  (1551-1595),  the  founder  of  the 
Oratorians,  was  renowned  as  a  healer.  He  cured 
Clement  VIII  of  gout  by  touching  and  prayer,  a 
woman  of  cancer  of  the  breast  by  the  mere  touch 
and  assurance,  a  man  of  grievous  symptoms  such  as 
loss  of  speech  and  internal  pain  by  simply  laying  on 
of  hands,  and  many  similar  and  equally  serious 
cases.  The  following  case  was  counted  nearly  equal 
to  a  resurrection:  "In  1560  Pietro  Vittrici  of  Par- 
ma, being  in  the  service  of  Cardinal  Boncompagni, 
afterward  Pope  Gregory  XIII,  fell  dangerously  ill. 
He  was  given  up  by  the  physicians,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  as  good  as  dead.  In  this  extremity  he 
was  visited  by  Philip  who,  as  soon  as  he  entered  the 
sick  man's  room,  began,  as  was  his  wont,  to  pray 
for  him.  He  then  put  his  hand  on  Pietro 's  forehead, 
and  at  the  touch  he  instantly  revived.  In  two 
days'  time  he  was  out  of  the  house  perfectly  well 
and  strong  and  went  about  telling  people  how  he 
had  been  cured  by  Father  Philip."  1 

George  Fox  (1624-1691),  the  founder  of  the 
Quakers,  performed  some  simple  cures  of  which  he 
himself  tells  us.  The  most  famous  case  was  that 
of  the  cure  of  a  lame  arm  by  command,  the  account 

1  P.  J.  Bacci,  Life  of  St.  Philip  Neri  (trans.  Antrobus),  II,  P-  168. 


HEALERS  133 

of  which  we  take  from  his  pen.  He  thus  records  it : 
"After  some  time  I  went  to  the  meeting  at  Arnside 
where  Richard  Meyer  was.  Now  he  had  been  long 
lame  of  one  of  his  arms;  and  I  was  moved  by  the 
Lord  to  say  unto  him,  among  all  the  people, 
'  Prophet  Meyer  stand  up  upon  thy  legs '  (for  he  was 
sitting  down)  and  he  stood  up  and  stretched  out 
his  arm  that  had  been  lame  a  long  time,  and  said: 
'  Be  it  known  unto  all  you  people  that  this  day  I  am 
healed.'  But  his  parents  could  hardly  believe  it, 
but  after  the  meeting  was  done,  had  him  aside  and 
took  off  his  doublet;  and  then  they  saw  it  was  true. 
He  soon  after  came  to  Swarthmore  meeting,  and 
there  declared  how  the  Lord  had  healed  him.  But 
after  this  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  go  to  York 
with  a  message  from  him;  and  he  disobeyed  the 
Lord;  and  the  Lord  struck  him  again,  so  that  he 
died  about  three-quarters  of  a  year  after."  l  The 
cure  evidently  was  not  permanent. 

Valentine  Greatrakes  (1628-1683)  was  born  in 
Affane,  Ireland.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Irish  gen- 
tleman, had  a  good  education,  and  was  a  Protestant. 
In  1641,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Irish  rebellion,  he 
fled  to  England,  and  from  1649-1656  he  served  un- 
der Cromwell.  In  1661,  after  a  period  of  melan- 
choly derangement,  he  believed  that  God  had  given 
him  power  of  curing  "king's  evil"  by  touching  or 
stroking  and  prayer.  After  some  success  with  this 

1  G.  Fox,  Journal,  I,  p.  103. 


134  HEALERS 

disease,  he  added  to  his  list  ague,  epilepsy,  convul- 
sions, paralysis,  deafness,  ulcers,  aches,  and  lame- 
ness, and  for  a  number  of  years  he  devoted  three 
days  in  every  week,  from  6  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M.,  to  the 
exercise  of  his  healing  gifts.  The  crowds  which 
thronged  around  him  were  so  great  that  the  neigh- 
boring towns  were  not  able  to  accommodate  them. 
He  thereupon  left  his  house  in  the  country  and 
went  to  Youghal,  where  sick  people,  not  only  from 
all  parts  of  Ireland  but  from  England,  continued  to 
congregate  in  such  great  numbers  that  the  magis- 
trates were  afraid  they  would  infect  the  place  with 
their  diseases. 

In  some  instances  he  exorcised  demons;  in  fact, 
he  claimed  that  all  diseases  were  caused  by  evil 
spirits,  and  every  infirmity  was,  with  him,  a  case 
of  diabolic  possession.  The  church  endeavored  to 
prohibit  his  operations  but  without  avail.  He  was 
invited  to  London,  and,  notwithstanding  that  an 
exhibition  before  the  nobility  failed,  thousands 
flocked  to  his  house  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.  In 
the  "Miscellanies"  of  St.  Evremond  a  graphic  sketch 
is  given  of  his  work.  The  results  of  his  healing  are 
there  summed  up  as  follows: 

"So  great  was  the  confidence  in  him,  that  the 
blind  fancied  they  saw  the  light  which  they  did  not 
see — the  deaf  imagined  that  they  heard — the  lame 
that  they  walked  straight,  and  the  paralytic  that 
they  had  recovered  the  use  of  their  limbs.  An  idea 


VALENTINE   CREATRAKES 


HEALERS  135 

of  health  made  the  sick  forget  for  a  while  their 
maladies;  and  imagination,  which  was  not  less 
active  in  those  merely  drawn  by  curiosity  than  in 
the  sick,  gave  a  false  view  to  the  one  class,  from  the 
desire  of  seeing,  as  it  operated  a  false  cure  on  the 
other  from  the  strong  desire  of  being  healed.  Such 
was  the  power  of  the  Irishman  over  the  mind,  and 
such  was  the  influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body. 
Nothing  was  spoken  of  in  London  but  his  prodigies; 
and  these  prodigies  were  supported  by  such  great 
authorities  that  the  bewildered  multitude  believed 
them  almost  without  examination,  while  more  en- 
lightened people  did  not  dare  to  reject  them  from 
their  own  knowledge." 

That  there  were  real  cures,  however,  seems  most 
probable.  The  Bishop  of  Dromore  testifies  thus 
from  his  own  observation:  "I  have  seen  pains 
strangely  fly  before  his  hands  till  he  had  chased 
them  out  of  the  body;  dimness  cleared,  and  deaf- 
ness cured  by  his  touch.  Twenty  persons  at  several 
tunes,  in  fits  of  the  falling  sickness,  were  in  two  or 
three  minutes  brought  to  themselves.  .  .  .  Running 
sores  of  the  'King's  evil'  were  dried  up;  grievous 
sores  of  many  months'  date  in  a  few  days  healed, 
cancerous  knots  dissolved,  etc."  * 

The  celebrated  Flamstead,  the  astronomer,  when 
a  lad  of  nineteen,  went  into  Ireland  to  be  touched 
by  Greatrakes,  and  he  testifies  that  he  was  an  eye- 
witness of  several  cures,  although  he  himself  was 
not  benefited.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  Con  way,  Great- 

1  J.  Moses,  Pathological  Aspects  of  Religions,  p.  188. 


136  HEALERS 

rakes  says:  "The  King's  doctors,  this  day  (for  the 
confirmation  of  their  majesties'  belief),  sent  three 
out  of  the  hospital  to  me,  who  came  on  crutches; 
but,  blessed  be  God!  they  all  went  home  well,  to 
the  admiration  of  all  people,  as  well  as  the  doc- 
tors." ' 

Several  pamphlets  were  issued  by  medical  men 
and  others  criticising  his  work,  and  in  1666  he  pub- 
lished a  vindication  of  himself  entitled  "A  Brief 
Account."  This  contained  numerous  testimonials 
by  Bishop  Wilkins,  Bishop  Patrick,  Dr.  Cudworth, 
Dr.  Whichcote,  and  others  of  distinction  and  intel- 
ligence. After  the  retirement  of  Greatrakes,  John 
Leverett,  a  gardener,  succeeded  to  the  "manual 
exercise,"  and  declared  that  after  touching  thirty 
or  forty  a  day,  he  felt  so  much  goodness  go  out  of 
him  that  he  was  fatigued  as  if  he  had  been  digging 
eight  roods  of  ground. 

About  the  same  time  that  Greatrakes  was  work- 
ing among  the  people  of  London,  an  Italian  enthu- 
siast, named  Francisco  Bagnone,  was  operating  in 
Italy  with  equal  success.  He  had  only  to  touch 
the  sick  with  his  hands,  or  sometimes  with  a  relic, 
to  accomplish  cures  which  astonished  the  people. 

Hardly  less  famous  than  Greatrakes  was  Johann 
Jacob  Gassner  (1727-1779).  He  was  born  at  Bratz, 
near  Bludenz,  and  became  Roman  Catholic  priest 

1  E.  Salverte,  The  Philosophy  of  Magic  (trans.  Thompson),  II,  p. 
81. 


HEALERS  137 

at  Klosterle.  He  believed  that  most  diseases  were 
caused  by  evil  spirits  which  could  be  exorcised  by 
conjuration  and  prayer.  He  began  practising  and 
soon  attracted  attention.  In  1774  he  received  a 
call  from  the  bishop  at  Ratisbon  to  Ellwangen, 
where  by  the  mere  word  of  command,  "Cesset" 
(Give  over),  he  cured  the  lame  and  blind,  but  espe- 
cially those  who  were  afflicted  with  epilepsy  and 
convulsions,  and  who  were  thereby  supposed  to  be 
obsessed.  His  cures  were  not  permanent  in  some 
cases,  and  before  he  died  he  lost  power  and  respect. 


CHAPTER  VI 
TALISMANS 

"He  had  the  ring  of  Gyges,  the  talisman  of  invisibility." 

— HAMERTON. 

"The  quack  astrologer  offers,  for  five  pieces,  to  give  you  home 
with  you  a  Talisman  against  Flies;  aSigil  to  make  you  fortunate  at 
gaining;  and  a  Spell  that  shall  as  certainly  preserve  you  from  being 
rob'd  for  the  future;  a  sympathetic  Powder  for  violent  pains  of  the 
Tooth-ache." — Character  of  a  Quack  Astrologer. 

"  So  far  are  they  distant  from  the  true  knowledge  of  physic  which 
are  ignorant  of  astrology,  that  they  ought  not  rightly  to  be  called 
physicians,  but  deceivers;  for  it  hath  been  many  times  experi- 
mented and  proved  that  that  which  many  physicians  could  not  cure 
or  remedy  with  their  greatest  and  strongest  medicines,  the  astron- 
omer hath  brought  to  pass  with  one  simple  herb,  by  observing  the 
moving  of  the  signs." — FABIAN  WITHERS. 

IN  the  minds  of  most  persons  the  terms  talisman, 
amulet,  and  charm  are  synonymous.  This  may  be 
more  or  less  true  as  far  as  they  are  used  to-day,  but 
in  the  days  when  these  terms  meant  something  in 
real  life  there  was  a  distinction.  The  talisman  was 
probably  at  first  an  astronomical  figure,  but  later 
the  term  became  more  comprehensive.  Pope  por- 
trays this  astrological  import  in  his  couplet, 

"Of  talismans  and  sigils  knew  the  power, 
And  carefully  watch'd  the  planetary  hour." 

The  amulet  was  always  carried  about  the  person, 
while  the  other  two  might  be  in  the  possession  of 

138 


TALISMANS  139 

the  person  in  the  case  of  the  talisman,  or,  in  the  case 
of  the  charm,  if  a  material  object  it  could  be  placed 
entirely  outside  of  one's  care.  The  talisman  and 
amulet  must  be  a  compound  of  some  substance,  the 
charm  might  be  a  gesture,  a  look,  or  a  spoken  word. 
Notice  the  example  of  charms  according  to  Tenny- 
son's words, 

"Then,  in  one  moment,  she  put  forth  the  charm 
Of  woven  paces  and  of  waving  hands." 

They  were  all  used  for  defensive  purposes,  i.  e.,  to 
keep  away  evil,  in  the  form  of  demons,  disease,  or 
misfortune,  but  they  might,  especially  the  talisman, 
also  attract  good.  Their  power  was  of  a  magical 
character,  and  was  exercised  in  a  supernatural  man- 
ner. 

The  idea  of  the  talisman  probably  originated  from 
the  belief  that  certain  properties  or  virtues  were  im- 
pressed upon  substances  by  planetary  influences. 
"A  talisman,"  says  Pettigrew,  "may  in  general 
terms  be  defined  to  be  a  substance  composed  of 
certain  cabalistic  characters  engraved  on  stone, 
metal,  or  other  material,  or  else  written  on  slips  of 
paper."  Hyde  quotes  a  Persian  writer  who  defines 
the  Telesm  or  Talismay  as  "a  piece  of  art  com- 
pounded of  the  celestial  powers  and  elementary 
bodies,  appropriated  to  certain  figures  or  positions, 
and  purposes  and  times,  contrary  to  the  usual 
manner." 


140  TALISMANS 

We  are  told  by  Maimonides  that  images  or  idols 
were  called  Tzelamim  on  account  of  the  power  or 
influence  which  was  supposed  to  reside  in  them, 
rather  than  on  account  of  their  particular  figure  or 
form.  Townley  has  opined  that  the  reason  for  the 
production  of  astrological  or  talismanic  images  was 
probably  the  desire  of  early  peoples  to  have  some 
representation  of  the  planets  during  their  absence 
from  sight,  so  that  they  might  at  all  times  be  able 
to  worship  the  planetary  body  itself  or  its  represent- 
ative. To  accomplish  this  purpose,  the  astrologers 
chose  certain  colors,  metals,  stones,  trees,  etc.,  to 
represent  certain  planets,  and  constructed  the  talis- 
mans when  the  planets  were  in  their  exaltation  and 
in  a  happy  conjunction  with  other  heavenly  bodies. 
In  addition  to  this,  incantations  were  used  in  an 
endeavor  to  inspire  the  talisman  with  the  power  and 
influence  of  the  planet  for  which  it  stood. 

Pettigrew  says:  "The  Hebrew  word  for  talisman 
(magan)  signifies  a  paper  or  other  material,  drawn 
or  engraved  with  the  letters  composing  the  sacred 
name  JEHOVAH,  or  with  other  characters,  and  im- 
properly applied  to  astrological  representations,  be- 
cause, like  the  letters  composing  'The  Incompar- 
able Name,'  they  were  supposed  to  serve  as  a  de- 
fence against  sickness,  lightning,  and  tempest.  It 
was  a  common  practice  with  magicians,  whenever 
a  plague  or  other  great  calamity  infested  a  country, 
to  make  a  supposed  image  of  the  destroyer,  either 


TALISMANS  141 

in  gold,  silver,  clay,  wax,  etc.,  under  a  certain  con- 
figuration of  the  heavens,  and  to  set  it  up  in  some 
particular  place  that  the  evil  might  be  stayed."  1 

The  Jewish  phylacteries  must  therefore  be  con- 
sidered talismans  and  not  amulets.  The  writings 
contained  in  them  are  portions  of  the  law  and  are 
prepared  in  a  prescribed  manner.  Three  different 
kinds  are  used:  one  for  the  head,  another  for  the 
arm,  and  the  third  is  attached  to  the  door-posts. 
The  following  is  a  Hebrew  talisman  supposed  to 
have  considerable  power:  "It  overflowed — :he  did 
cast  darts — Shadai  is  all  sufficient — his  hand  is 
strong,  and  is  the  preserver  of  my  life  in  all  its  vari- 
ations." 2 

Arnot  gives  an  account  of  some  Scottish  talis- 
mans not  unlike  the  phylacteries  of  the  Jews,  which 
were  for  use  on  the  door-posts.  "On  the  old  houses 
still  existing  in  Edinburgh,"  he  says,  "there  are  re- 
mains of  talismanic  or  cabalistical  characters,  which 
the  superstitious  of  earlier  days  had  caused  to  be 
engraven  on  their  fronts.  These  were  generally 
composed  of  some  text  of  Scripture,  of  the  name  of 
God,  or,  perhaps,  of  an  emblematic  representation 
of  the  resurrection."  3 

The  connection  of  astrology,  or,  as  he  calls  it, 
"astronomy,"  and  the  talisman  with  medicine  is 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  63  f. 

*  Gentleman's  Magazine,  LVIII,  pp.  586  and  695. 
3  H.  Arnot,  History  of  Edinburgh. 


142  TALISMANS 

well  portrayed  by  Chaucer  in  his  picture  of  a  good 
physician  of  his  day.    He  says: 

"With  us  there  was  a  doctor  of  phisike; 
In  al  the  world,  was  thar  non  hym  lyk 
To  speke  of  physik  and  of  surgerye, 
For  he  wos  groundit  in  astronomic. 
He  kept  his  pacient  a  ful  gret  del 
In  hourys  by  his  magyk  naturel; 
Wei  couth  he  fortunen  the  ascendent 
Of  his  ymagys  for  his  pacient." 

Fosbrooke  has  divided  talismans  into  five  classes, 
examples  of  some  of  which  I  have  already  given. 
They  are:  "1.  The  astronomical,  with  celestial  signs 
and  intelligible  characters.  2.  The  magical,  with 
extraordinary  figures,  superstitious  words,  and  names 
of  unknown  angels.  3.  The  mixed,  of  celestial  signs 
and  barbarous  words,  but  not  superstitious,  or  with 
names  of  angels.  4.  The  sigilla  planetarum,  com- 
posed of  Hebrew  numeral  letters,  used  by  astrologers 
and  fortune-tellers.  5.  Hebrew  names  and  charac- 
ters. These  were  formed  according  to  the  cabalistic 
art." 

The  doctrine  of  signatures  bears  a  close  resem- 
blance to  talismans,  and  some  believe  that  talismans 
have  largely  grown  out  of  this  doctrine.  Dr.  Paris  1 
defines  the  doctrine  as  the  belief  that  "every  natural 
substance  which  possesses  any  medical  virtues  in- 
dicates, by  an  obvious  and  well-marked  external 

1  Pharmacologia,  p.  51. 


TALISMANS  143 

character,  the  disease  for  which  it  is  a  remedy  or 
the  object  for  which  it  should  be  employed."  Southey 
says,1  "The  signatures  [were]  the  books  out  of  which 
the  ancients  first  learned  the  virtues  of  herbs — 
Nature  having  stamped  on  divers  of  them  legible 
characters  to  discover  their  uses."  Some  opined 
that  the  external  marks  were  impressed  by  plane- 
tary influences,  hence  their  connection  with  talis- 
mans; others  simply  reasoned  it  out  that  the  Al- 
mighty must  have  placed  a  sign  on  the  various 
means  which  he  had  provided  for  curing  diseases. 

Color  and  shape  were  the  two  principal  factors 
in  interpreting  the  signatures.  White  was  regarded 
as  cold  and  red  as  hot,  hence  cold  and  hot  qualities 
were  attributed  to  different  medicines  of  these 
colors  respectively.  Serious  errors  in  practice  re- 
sulted from  this  opinion.  Red  flowers  were  given 
for' disorders  of  the  sanguiferous  system;  the  petals 
of  the  red  rose,  especially,  bear  the  "signature"  of 
the  blood,  and  blood-root,  on  account  of  its  red 
juice,  was  much  prescribed  for  the  blood.  Celan- 
dine, having  yellow  juice,  the  yellow  drug,  turmeric, 
the  roots  of  rhubarb,  the  flowers  of  saffron,  and  other 
yellow  substances  were  given  in  jaundice;  red  flan- 
nel, looking  like  blood,  cures  blood  taints,  and  there- 
fore rheumatism,  even  to  this  day,  although  many 
do  not  know  why  red  flannel  is  so  efficacious. 

Lungwort,  whose  leaves  bear  a  fancied  resem- 

1  The  Doctor,  p.  59. 


144  TALISMANS 

blance  to  the  surface  of  the  lungs,  was  considered 
good  for  pulmonary  complaints,  and  liverwort,  hav- 
ing a  leaf  like  the  liver,  cured  liver  diseases.  Eye- 
bright  was  a  famous  application  for  eye  diseases, 
because  its  flowers  somewhat  resemble  the  pupil  of 
the  eye;  bugloss,  resembling  a  snake's  head,  was 
valuable  for  snake  bite;  and  the  peony,  when  in 
bud,  being  something  like  a  man's  head,  was  "very 
available  against  the  falling  sickness."  Walnuts 
were  considered  to  be  the  perfect  signature  of  the 
head,  the  shell  represented  the  bony  skull,  the  irreg- 
ularities of  the  kernel  the  convolutions  of  the  two 
hemispheres  of  the  brain,  and  the  husk  the  scalp. 
The  husk  was  therefore  used  for  scalp  wounds,  the 
inner  peel  for  disorders  of  the  meninges,  and  the 
kernel  was  beneficial  for  the  brain  and  tended  to 
resist  poisons.  Lilies-of-the-valley  were  used  for 
the  cure  of  apoplexy,  the  signature  reasoning  being, 
as  Coles  says,  "for  as  that  disease  is  caused  by  the 
drooping  of  humors  into  the  principal  ventrices  of 
the  brain,  so  the  flowers  of  this  lily,  hanging  on  the 
plants  as  if  they  were  drops,  are  of  wonderful  use 
herein." 

Capillary  herbs  naturally  announced  themselves 
as  good  for  diseases  of  the  hair,  and  bear's  grease, 
being  taken  from  an  animal  thickly  covered  with 
hair,  was  recommended  for  the  prevention  of  bald- 
ness. Nettle-tea  is  still  a  country  remedy  for  nettle 
rash ;  prickly  plants  like  thistles  and  holly  were  pre- 


TALISMANS  145 

scribed  for  pleurisy  and  stitch  in  the  side,  and  the 
scales  of  the  pine  were  used  in  toothache,  because 
they  resemble  front  teeth.  "Kidney-beans,"  says 
Berdoe,  "ought  to  have  been  useful  for  kidney  dis- 
eases, but  seem  to  have  been  overlooked  except 
as  articles  of  diet."  Poppy-heads  were  used  "with 
success"  to  relieve  diseases  of  the  head,  and  the 
root  of  the  "mandrake,"  from  its  supposed  resem- 
blance to  the  human  form,  was  a  very  ancient 
remedy  for  barrenness  and  was  evidently  so  es- 
teemed by  Rachel,  in  the  account  given  in  Genesis 
30 : 14  ff. 

In  the  treatment  of  small-pox  red  bed  coverings 
were  employed  in  order  to  bring  the  pustules  to 
the  surface  of  the  body.  The  patient  must  be  in- 
dued with  red;  the  bed  furniture  and  hangings 
should  be  red  and  red  substances  were  to  be  looked 
upon  by  the  patient;  burnt  purple,  pomegranate 
seeds,  mulberries  or  other  red  ingredients  were  dis- 
solved in  their  drink.  John  of  Gladdesden,  physi- 
cian to  Edward  II,  prescribed  the  following  treat- 
ment as  soon  as  the  eruption  appeared:  "Cause  the 
whole  body  of  your  patient  to  be  wrapped  in  scarlet 
cloth,  or  any  other  red  cloth,  and  command  every- 
thing about  the  bed  to  be  made  red."  He  further 
says  that  "when  the  son  of  the  renowned  King  of 
England  (Edward  II)  lay  sick  of  the  small-pox  I 
took  care  that  everything  around  the  bed  should  be 
of  a  red  color;  which  succeeded  so  completely  that 


146  TALISMANS 

the  Prince  was  restored  to  perfect  health,  without  a 
vestige  of  a  pustule  remaining." 

The  Emperor  Francis  I,  when  infected  with  small- 
pox, was  rolled  up  in  a  scarlet  cloth,  by  order  of  his 
physicians,  as  late  as  1765;  notwithstanding  this 
treatment  he  died.  Kampfer  says  that  "when  any 
of  the  Japanese  emperor's  children  are  attacked 
with  the  small-pox,  not  only  the  chamber  and  bed 
are  covered  with  red  hangings,  but  all  persons  who 
approach  the  sick  prince  must  be  clad  in  scarlet 
gowns."  By  a  course  of  reasoning  similar  to  that 
used  in  the  treatment  of  small-pox,  it  was  supposed 
that  flannel  dyed  nine  times  in  blue  was  efficacious 
in  removing  glandular  swellings.1 

The  astrological  factor  in  talismans  was  most  im- 
portant because  it  was  considered  that  certain  stars 
and  planets  in  certain  relations  produced  certain 
diseases  and  contagious  disorders.  Astrologers,  for 
example,  attributed  the  plague  to  a  conjunction  of 
Saturn  and  Jupiter  in  Sagittarius,  on  the  tenth  of 
October,  or  to  a  conjunction  of  Saturn  and  Mars  in 
the  same  constellation,  on  the  twelfth  of  November. 
Burton  makes  the  most  generous  melancholy,  as 
that  of  Augustus,  to  come  from  the  conjunction  of 
Saturn  and  Jupiter  in  Libra;  the  bad,  as  that  of 


1  For  a  discussion  on  the  doctrine  of  signatures  see  T.  J.  Petti- 
grew,  Superstitions,  etc.,  pp.  33  f.;  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of 
the  Healing  Art,  pp.  327  and  416  f.;  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the 
Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology,  II,  pp.  38  f.;  Eccles,  Evolution  of 
Medical  Science,  pp.  140  f. 


TALISMANS  147 

Catiline,  from  the  meeting  of  Saturn  and  the  moon 
in  Scorpio.  If  these  disorders  were  produced  by 
planets  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they 
could  be  cured  by  planets. 

The  virtue  of  herbs  depended  upon  the  planet 
under  which  they  were  sown  or  gathered.  For  ex- 
ample, verbena  or  vervain  should  be  gathered  at 
the  rising  of  the  dog-star,  when  neither  the  sun  nor 
the  moon  shone,  but  an  expiatory  sacrifice  of  fruit 
and  honey  should  previously  have  been  offered  to 
the  earth.  If  this  was  carried  out  it  had  power  to 
render  the  possessor  invulnerable,  to  cure  fevers, 
to  eradicate  poison,  and  to  conciliate  friendship. 
Notice  also,  that  black  hellebore,  to  be  effective,  was 
to  be  plucked  not  cut,  and  this  with  the  right  hand, 
which  was  then  to  be  covered  with  a  portion  of  the 
robe  and  secretly  to  be  conveyed  to  the  left  hand. 
The  person  gathering  it  was  to  be  clad  in  white,  to  be 
barefooted,  and  to  offer  a  sacrifice  of  bread  and  wine. 

Not  only  the  planets  and  the  stars,  but  the  moon 
has  had  a  potent  influence  on  medicine.  For  in- 
stance, mistletoe  was  to  be  cut  with  a  golden  knife, 
and  when  the  moon  was  only  six  days  old.  Brand  * 
quotes  from  The  Husbandman's  Practice,  or  Prog- 
nostication Forever,  published  in  1664,  the  following 
curious  passage,  "Good  to  purge  with  electuaries, 
the  moon  in  Cancer;  with  pills,  the  moon  in  Pisces; 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  153.  In  references  to  this 
work,  the  edition  used  was  that  edited  by  W.  Carew  Hazlitt. 


148  TALISMANS 

with  potions,  the  moon  in  Virgo;  good  to  take 
vomits,  the  moon  being  in  Tarsus,  Virgo,  or  the 
latter  part  of  Sagittarius;  to  purge  the  head  by 
sneezing,  the  moon  being  in  Cancer,  Leo,  or  Virgo; 
to  stop  fluxes  and  rheumes,  the  moon  being  in 
Taurus,  Virgo,  or  Capricorne;  to  bathe  when  the 
moon  is  in  Cancer,  Libra,  Aquarius,  or  Pisces;  to 
cut  the  hair  off  the  head  or  beard  when  the  moon  is 
in  Libra,  Sagittarius,  Aquarius,  or  Pisces." 

The  Loseley  manuscripts  provide  us  with  further 
examples.  "Here  begyneth  ye  waxingge  of  ye 
mone,  and  declareth  in  dyvers  tymes  to  let  blode, 
whiche  be  gode.  In  the  furste  begynynge  of  the 
mone  it  is  profetable  to  yche  man  to  be  letten  blode; 
ye  ix  of  the  mone,  neyther  be  nyght  ne  by  day,  it  is 
not  good."  They  also  tell  of  a  physician  named 
Simon  Trippe,  who  wrote  to  a  patient  in  excuse  for 
not  visiting  him,  as  follows:  "As  for  my  comming 
to  you  upon  Wensday  next,  verely  my  promise  be 
past  to  and  old  pacient  of  mine,  a  very  good  gentle- 
woman, one  Mrs.  Clerk,  wch  now  lieth  in  great  ex- 
tremity. I  cannot  possibly  be  with  you  till  Thurs- 
day. On  Fryday  and  Saterday  the  signe  wilbe  in 
the  heart;  on  Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday,  in 
the  stomake;  during  wch  time  it  wilbe  no  good 
dealing  with  your  ordinary  physicke  untill  Wensday 
come  sevenight  at  the  nearest,  and  from  that  time 
forwards  for  15  or  16  days  passing  good."  1 

1  The  Loseley  Manuscripts,  pp.  263  f.,  quoted  by  Berdoe. 


TALISMANS  149 

Not  unlike  this  is  an  incident  of  the  year  686, 
given  by  Bede,  where  "a  holy  Bishop  having  been 
asked  to  bless  a  sick  maiden,  asked  'when  she  had 
been  bled? '  and  being  told  that  it  was  on  the  fourth 
day  of  the  moon,  said:  'You  did  very  indiscreetly 
and  unskilfully  to  bleed  her  on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  moon;  for  I  remember  that  Archbishop  Theo- 
dore, of  blessed  memory,  said  that  bleeding  at  that 
time  was  very  dangerous,  when  the  light  of  the 
moon  and  the  tide  of  the  ocean  is  increasing;  and 
what  can  I  do  to  the  girl  if  she  is  like  to  die?' : 

"So  great,  indeed,"  says  Fort,  "became  the  abuse 
of  medical  astrology,  whether  by  the  direct  juxta- 
position of  stellar  influence,  or  through  apposite 
unages,  that  a  celebrated  Church  Council  at  Paris 
declared  that  images  of  metal,  wax,  or  other  ma- 
terials fabricated  under  certain  constellations  or 
according  to  fixed  characters — figures  of  peculiar 
form,  either  baptized,  consecrated,  or  exorcised,  or 
rather  desecrated  by  the  performance  of  formal 
rites  at  stated  periods  which  it  was  asserted,  thus 
composed,  possessed  miraculous  virtues  set  forth  in 
superstitious  writings — were  placed  under  the  ban 
and  interdicted  as  errors  of  faith."  2 

We  shall  see  that  magnetism  developed  from 
astrology,  and  some  other  forms  of  mental  healing 


1  Bede,  Ecclesiastical  History,  bk.  V,  chap.  III. 
8  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  299. 


150  TALISMANS 

from  magnetism.  One  of  these,  sympathetic  cures, 
was  talismanic  in  its  character,  and  therefore  I 
give  a  brief  account  of  its  method  of  working,  in 
this  place. 

Sympathetic  cures  probably  started  with  Para- 
celsus, although  Von  Helmont  tells  us  that  the 
secret  was  first  put  forth  by  Ericcius  Wohyus,  of 
Eburo.  As  a  development  from  magnetism  the 
former  originated  the  "weapon  salve"  which  excited 
so  much  attention  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  following  was  a  receipt  given 
by  him  for  the  cure  of  any  wound  inflicted  by  a 
sharp  weapon,  except  such  as  had  penetrated  the 
heart,  the  brain,  or  the  arteries.  "Take  the  moss 
growing  on  the  head  of  a  thief  who  has  been  hanged 
and  left  in  the  air;  of  real  mummy;  of  human 
blood,  still  warm — of  each,  one  ounce;  of  human 
suet,  two  ounces;  of  linseed  oil,  turpentine,  and 
Armenian  bole — of  each,  two  drachms.  Mix  all 
well  in  a  mortar,  and  keep  the  salve  in  an  oblong, 
narrow  urn."  With  the  salve  the  weapon  (not  the 
wound),  after  being  dipped  in  blood  from  the  wound, 
was  to  be  carefully  anointed,  and  then  laid  by  in 
a  cool  place.  In  the  meantime,  the  wound  was 
washed  with  fair,  clean  water,  covered  with  a  clean 
soft  linen  rag,  and  opened  once  a  day  to  cleanse  off 
purulent  matter.  A  writer  in  the  Foreign  Quarterly 
Review  says  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  suc- 
cess of  the  treatment,  "for  surgeons  at  this  moment 


TALISMANS  151 

follow  exactly  the  same  method,  except  anointing 
the  weapon!" 

The  weapon-salve  continued  to  be  much  spoken 
of  on  the  Continent,  and  Dr.  Fludd,  or  A  Fluctibus, 
the  Rosicrucian,  introduced  it  into  England.  He 
tried  it  with  great  success  in  several  cases,  but  in 
the  midst  of  his  success  an  attack  was  made  upon 
him  and  his  favorite  remedy,  which,  however,  did 
little  or  nothing  to  diminish  the  belief  in  its  efficacy. 
One  "Parson  Foster"  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"Hyplocrisma  Spongus;  or  a  Spunge  to  wipe  away 
the  Weapon-salve,"  in  which  he  declared  that  it 
was  as  bad  as  witchcraft  to  use  or  recommend  such 
an  unguent;  that  it  was  invented  by  the  devil, 
who,  at  the  last  day,  would  seize  upon  every  person 
who  had  given  it  the  least  encouragement.  "In 
fact,"  said  Parson  Foster,  "the  Devil  himself  gave 
it  to  Paracelsus;  Paracelsus  to  the  emperor;  the 
emperor  to  the  courtier;  the  courtier  to  Baptista 
Porta;  and  Baptista  Porta  to  Dr.  Fludd,  a  doctor  of 
physic,  yet  living  and  practising  in  the  famous  city 
of  London,  who  now  stands  tooth  and  nail  for  it." 
Dr.  Fludd,  thus  assailed,  took  up  his  pen  and  de- 
fended the  unguent  in  a  caustic  pamphlet. 

The  salve  changed  into  a  powder  in  the  hands  of 
Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  the  son  of  Sir  Edward  Digby 
who  was  executed  for  his  participation  in  the  Gun- 
powder Plot.  Sir  Kenelm  was  an  accomplished 
scholar  and  an  able  man,  but  at  the  same  time  a 


152  TALISMANS 

most  extravagant  defender  of  the  powder  of  sym- 
pathy for  the  healing  of  wounds.  This  powder 
came  into  sudden  and  public  notoriety  through  an 
accident  to  a  distinguished  person.  Mr.  James 
Howell,  the  well-known  author  of  the  Dendrologia, 
in  endeavoring  to  part  two  friends  in  a  duel,  re- 
ceived a  severe  cut  on  the  hand.  Alarmed  by  the 
accident,  one  of  the  combatants  bound  up  the  cut 
with  his  garter  and  conveyed  him  home.  The  king 
sent  his  own  surgeon  to  attend  Mr.  Howell,  but  in 
four  or  five  days  the  wound  was  not  recovering  very 
rapidly  and  he  made  application  to  Sir  Kenelm. 
The  latter  first  inquired  whether  he  possessed  any- 
thing that  had  the  blood  upon  it,  upon  which  Mr. 
Howell  produced  the  garter  with  which  his  hand 
had  been  bound.  A  basin  of  water  in  which  some 
powder  of  vitriol  had  been  dissolved  was  procured, 
and  the  garter  immediately  immersed  in  it,  where- 
upon, to  quote  Sir  Kenelm,  Mr.  Howell  said,  "I 
know  not  what  ails  me,  but  I  find  that  I  feel  no  more 
pain.  Methinks  that  a  pleasing  kind  of  freshness, 
as  it  were  a  wet  cold  napkin,  did  spread  over  my 
hand,  which  hath  taken  away  the  inflammation 
that  tormented  me  before."  He  was  then  advised 
to  lay  away  all  plasters  and  keep  the  wound  clean 
and  in  a  moderate  temperature. 

To  prove  conclusively  the  efficacy  of  the  powder 
of  sympathy,  after  dinner  the  garter  was  taken  out 
of  the  basin  and  placed  to  dry  before  the  fire.  No 


SIR    KEXELM    DIGBY 


TALISMANS  153 

sooner  was  this  done  than  Mr.  Howell's  servant 
came  running  to  Sir  Kenelm  saying  that  his  master's 
hand  was  again  inflamed,  and  that  it  was  as  bad  as 
before.  The  garter  was  again  placed  in  the  liquid 
and  before  the  return  of  the  servant  all  was  well  and 
easy  again.  In  the  course  of  five  or  six  days  the 
wound  was  cicatrized  and  a  cure  performed. 

This  case  excited  considerable  attention  at  court, 
and  on  inquiry  Sir  Kenelm  told  the  king  that  he 
learned  the  secret  from  a  much-travelled  Carmelite 
friar  who  became  possessed  of  it  while  journeying 
in  the  East.  Sir  Kenelm  communicated  it  to  Dr. 
Mayerne,  the  king's  physician,  and  from  him  it  was 
known  to  even  the  country  barbers.  Even  King 
James,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham, and  many  other  noble  personages  believed  in 
its  efficacy. 

It  would  be  a  waste  of  time,  had  we  space,  to  pre- 
sent fully  Sir  Kenelm's  profound  and  lengthy  ex- 
planation of  the  cure.  He  tried  to  make  the  cure 
more  reasonable  and  acceptable  by  bringing  forth 
certain  alleged  phenomena  which  he  thought  proved 
sympathy,  and  were  therefore  analogous  in  char- 
acter. Surgeon-General  Hammond  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  these  inferences  were  invariably 
false.  "It  is  a  very  curious  circumstance,"  says 
he,  "that  of  these,  there  is  not  one  which  is  true. 
Thus  he  is  wrong  when  he  says  that  if  the  hand  be 
severely  burnt,  the  pain  and  inflammation  are  re- 


154  TALISMANS 

lieved  by  holding  it  near  a  hot  fire;  that  a  person 
who  has  a  bad  breath  is  cured  by  putting  his  head 
over  a  privy  and  inhaling  the  air  which  comes  from 
it;  that  those  who  are  bitten  by  vipers  or  scorpions 
are  cured  by  holding  the  bruised  head  of  either  of 
those  animals,  as  the  case  may  be,  near  the  bitten 
part;  that  in  times  of  great  contagion,  carrying  a 
toad,  or  a  spider,  or  arsenic  or  some  other  venomous 
substance,  about  the  person  is  a  protection;  that 
hanging  a  toad  about  the  neck  of  a  horse  affected 
with  farcy  dissipates  the  disease;  that  water  evap- 
orated in  a  close  room  will  not  be  deposited  on  the 
walls,  if  a  vessel  of  water  be  placed  in  the  room; 
that  venison  pies  smell  strongly  at  those  periods  in 
which  the  '  beasts  which  are  of  the  same  nature 
and  kind  are  in  rut ' ;  that  wine  in  the  cellar  under- 
goes a  fermentation  when  the  vines  in  the  field  are 
in  flower;  that  a  table-cloth  spotted  with  mulberries 
or  red  wine  is  more  easily  whitened  at  the  season  in 
which  the  plants  are  flowering  than  at  any  other; 
that  washing  the  hands  in  the  rays  of  moonlight 
which  fall  into  a  polished  silver  basin  (without 
water)  is  a  cure  for  warts;  that  a  vessel  of  water  put 
on  the  hearth  of  a  smoky  chimney  is  a  remedy  for 
the  evil,  and  so  on — not  a  single  fact  in  all  that  he 
adduces.  Yet  these  circumstances  were  regarded 
as  real,  and  were  spoken  of  at  the  times  as  irrefrag- 
able proofs  of  the  truth  of  Sir  Kenelm's  views."  1 

1  W.  A.  Hammond,  Spiritualism  and  Nervotis  Derangement,  p.  175. 


TALISMANS  155 

We  need  have  no  doubt  concerning  the  operation 
of  sympathetic  cures,  for  Sir  Kenelm  has  told  us  of 
their  virtue  in  his  own  words.1  His  method  was  what 
was  called  the  cure  by  the  wet  way,  but  the  cure 
could  also  be  effected  in  a  dry  way.  Straus,  hi  a 
letter  to  Sir  Kenelm,  gives  an  account  of  a  cure 
performed  by  Lord  Gilbourne,  an  English  noble- 
man, upon  a  carpenter  who  had  cut  himself  severely 
with  his  axe.  "The  axe,  bespattered  with  blood, 
was  sent  for,  besmeared  with  an  anointment, 
wrapped  up  warmly,  and  carefully  hung  up  in  a 
closet.  The  carpenter  was  immediately  relieved,  and 
all  went  well  for  some  tune,  when,  however,  the 
wound  became  exceedingly  painful,  and,  upon  re- 
sorting to  his  lordship  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
axe  had  fallen  from  the  nail  by  which  it  was  sus- 
pended, and  thereby  become  uncovered." 

Dryden  in  "The  Tempest"  (Act  V,  Sc.  1)  makes 
Ariel  say,  in  reference  to  the  wound  received  by 
Hippolito  from  Ferdinand: 

"He  must  be  dress'd  again,  as  I  have  done  it. 
Anoint  the  sword  which  pierced  him  with  this  wea- 
pon-salve, and  wrap  it  close  from  air,  till  I  have 
time  to  visit  him  again." 

And  in  the  next  scene  we  have  the  following  dia- 
logue between  Hippolito  and  Miranda: 

1  Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  A  late  discovery  made  in  solemne  assembly  of 
nobles  and  learned  men,  at  Montpellier,  in  France,  touching  the  cure 
0}  wounds,  by  the  Powder  of  Sympathy,  etc. 


156  TALISMANS 

"Hip.  O  my  wound  pains  me. 
Mir.   I  am  come  to  ease  you. 

[She  unwraps  the  sword. 
Hip.  Alasl     I  feel  the  cold  air  come  to  me; 
My  wound  shoots  worse  than  ever. 

[She  wipes  and  anoints  the  sword. 
Mir.   Does  it  still  grieve  you? 
Hip.  Now  methinks,  there's  something 

Laid  just  upon  it. 
Mir.  Do  you  find  ease? 
Hip.  Yes,  yes,  upon  the  sudden,  all  the  pain 

Is  leaving  me.     Sweet  heaven,  how  I  am  eased!" 


Werenfels  says:  "If  the  superstitious  person  be 
wounded  by  any  chance,  he  applies  the  salve,  not  to 
the  wound,  but,  what  is  more  effectual,  to  the  weapon 
by  which  he  received  it.  By  a  new  kind  of  art,  he 
will  transplant  his  disease,  like  a  scion,  and  graft  it 
into  what  tree  he  pleases." 

The  practice  at  the  tune  was  varied  and  general. 
All  sorts  of  disgusting  ingredients  were  gathered 
together  to  form  the  salve.  Some  idea  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  science  of  medicine  at  that  time  may 
be  gathered  when  we  remember  that  a  serious  dis- 
cussion was  long  maintained  between  two  factions 
in  the  sympathetic  school  concerning  the  question 
"  whether  it  was  necessary  that  the  moss  should 
grow  absolutely  in  the  skull  of  a  thief  who  had  hung 
on  the  gallows,  and  whether  the  ointment,  while 
compounding,  was  to  be  stirred  with  a  murderer's 
knife." 


TALISMANS  157 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  sympathetic  cures 
were  really  the  most  rapid  and  effective.  The  mod- 
ern surgeon  wonders  how  a  wound  ever  healed  prior 
to  this  treatment.  There  seemed  to  be  little  that 
could  be  imagined  to  prevent  a  wound  from  healing 
that  the  pre-sympathetic  surgeon  did  not  try.  When 
the  manipulations,  doses,  and  treatments  were 
transferred  from  the  wound  to  the  weapon,  they  did 
not  hi  jure  the  weapon,  and  did  give  the  wound  a 
chance  to  heal.  In  fact,  leaving  out  the  weapon 
part  of  the  treatment,  which  could  have  none  but  a 
mental  influence,  the  treatment  would  be  recom- 
mended to-day.  The  wound  was  kept  clean,  the 
edges  were  brought  in  apposition,  temperature  was 
modified,  and  rest  given.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, wounds  which  the  surgeon  had  irritated  so 
as  to  take  weeks  to  heal,  united  in  as  many  days. 
Mark  this,  however:  the  wounds  treated  were  sun- 
pie  incisions,  the  ones  which  most  readily  united  if 
cleansed,  brought  together,  and  left  alone.  Gun- 
shot and  similar  wounds  were  not  treated  by  this 
process.1 

1 1  am  indebted  to  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with 
the  History  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and  Medicine,  pp.  201-213;  C. 
Mackay,  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions,  pp.  266-268;  W.  A. 
Hammond,  Spiritualism  and  Nervous  Derangement,  pp.  170-176;  for 
the  material  on  the  subject  of  sympathetic  cures. 


CHAPTER  VII 
AMULETS 

"He  loved  and  was  beloved;  what  more  could  he  desire  as  an 
amulet  against  fear?" — BULWER-LYTTON. 

"Such  medicines  are  to  be  exploded  that  consist  of  words,  char- 
acters, spells,  and  charms,  which  can  do  no  good  at  all,  but  out  of 
a  strong  conceit,  as  Pomponatius  proves;  or  the  Devil's  policy, 
who  is  the  first  founder  and  teacher  of  them." — BURTON. 

"Old  wives  and  starres  are  his  councellors;  his  nightspell  is  his 
guard,  and  charms  his  physician.  He  wears  Paracelsian  characters 
for  the  toothache;  and  a  little  hallowed  wax  is  his  antidote  for  all 
evils." — BISHOP  HALL. 

"Neither  doth  Fansie  only  cause,  but  also  as  easily  cure  Diseases; 
as  I  may  justly  refer  all  magical  and  jugling  Cures  thereunto,  per- 
formed, as  is  thought,  by  Saints,  Images,  Relicts,  Holy-Waters, 
Shrines,  Avemarys,  Crucifixes,  Benedictions,  Charms,  Characters, 
Sigils  of  the  Planets  and  of  Signs,  inverted  Words,  &c.,  and  there- 
fore all  such  Cures  are  rather  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Force  of  the 
Imagination,  than  any  virtue  in  them,  or  their  Rings,  Amulets, 
Lamens,  &c." — RAMESEY. 

ATTENTION  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  characteristic  of  the  amulet  is  that  it  must 
be  worn  about  the  person,  while  the  talisman  may 
simply  be  in  possession  of  a  person  wherever  it  may 
be,  or  deposited  at  a  certain  place  by  or  for  the  per- 
son. The  Arabic  equivalent  of  the  word  Amulet 
means  "that  which  is  suspended." 

The  derivation  of  the  word  is  uncertain,  but  there 
are  at  least  two  Latin  antecedents  claimed  for  it. 
Some  claim  that  it  is  derived  from  the  barbarous 

158 


AMULETS  159 

Latin  word  "amuletum,"  from  amolior,  to  remove; 
others  consider  that  it  comes  from  "amula,"  the 
name  of  a  small  vessel  with  lustral  water  in  it,  which 
the  Romans  sometimes  carried  in  their  pockets  for 
purification  and  expiation.  Pliny  says  that  many 
of  these  amulse  were  carved  out  of  pieces  of  amber 
and  hung  about  children's  necks.  Whatever  the 
derivation  of  the  word,  it  is  doubtless  of  Eastern 
origin. 

There  is  also  little  doubt  concerning  the  early 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  an  amulet  to  ward  off  dis- 
eases, and  to  protect  against  supernatural  agencies. 
So  powerful  were  they  supposed  to  be  that  an  oath 
was  formerly  administered  to  persons  about  to  fight 
a  legal  duel  "that  they  had  ne  charme  ne  herb  of 
virtue."  St.  Chrysostom  and  others  of  the  church 
fathers  condemned  the  practice  very  severely,  and 
the  Council  of  Laodicea  (366)  wisely  forbade  the 
priesthood  from  studying  and  practising  enchant- 
ments, mathematics,  astrology,  and  the  binding  of 
the  soul  by  amulets.1 

Burton  has  the  following  passage  on  the  subject: 
"Amulets,  and  Things  to  be  borne  about,  I  find 
prescribed,  taxed  by  some,  approved  by  Renodeus, 
Platerus,  and  others;  looke  for  them  in  Mizaldus, 
Porta,  Albertus,  &c.  ...  A  Ring  made  of  the 
Hoofe  of  an  Asse's  right  fore-foot  carried  about,  &c. 

1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  51  and  66  f. 


160  AMULETS 

I  say  with  Renodeus  they  are  not  altogether  to 
be  rejected.  Piony  doth  help  epilepsies.  Pretious 
Stones,  most  diseases.  A  Wolf's  dung  carried  about 
helps  the  Cholick.  A  spider,  an  Ague,  &c.  .  .  . 
Some  Medicines  are  to  be  exploded,  that  consist  of 
Words,  Characters,  Spells,  and  Charms,  which  can 
do  no  good  at  all,  but  out  of  a  strong  conceit,  as 
Pomponatius  proves;  or  the  Devil's  policy,  who  is 
the  first  founder  and  teacher  of  them."  1 

"To  this  kind,"  says  Bingham,  " belong  all  Liga- 
tures and  Remedies,  which  the  Schools  of  Physitians 
reject  and  condemn;  whether  in  Inchantments  or 
in  certain  marks,  which  they  call  Characters,  or  in 
some  other  things  which  are  to  be  hanged  and 
bound  about  the  Body,  and  kept  in  a  dancing 
posture.  Such  are  Ear-rings  hanged  upon  the  tip 
of  each  ear,  and  Rings  made  of  an  Ostriche's  bones 
for  the  Finger;  or,  when  you  are  told,  in  a  fit  of 
Convulsions  or  shortness  of  Breath,  to  hold  your 
left  Thumb  with  your  right  hand."  2 

Unfortunately  the  wearing  of  amulets  did  not 
stop  with  the  early  civilizations  or  even  with  the 
Middle  Ages.  People  in  our  own  supposedly  en- 
lightened age  indulge  in  them.  The  negro  carries 
the  hind  foot  of  a  rabbit,  and  the  children  see  great 
virtue  in  a  four-leafed  clover;  men  carry  luck  pen- 
nies, and  certain  stones  are  worn  in  rings  and  scarf 

1  R.  Burton,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  pt.  II,  sec.  V. 
a  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  281  f. 


AMULETS  161 

pins;  camphor  is  worn  about  the  person  to  avert 
febrile  contagion,  and  anodyne  necklaces  of  "Job's 
tears"  and  other  equally  harmless  and  inefficacious 
substances  are  placed  on  babies  to  assist  them  in 
teething.  The  camphor  and  necklaces  are  probably 
not  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  magical  power, 
but  a  mistaken  medical  virtue  is  assigned  to  them. 

There  was  neither  rule  nor  reason  for  the  compo- 
sition of  most  amulets,  and  one  would  have  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  the  superstitions  of  the  vari- 
ous ages  to  account  for  them.  Sometimes  the  shape, 
rather  than  the  material  of  which  they  were  com- 
posed or  the  inscription  on  them,  was  the  efficacious 
factor.  Perhaps  material,  shape,  and  inscription 
would  be  combined  in  one  object;  or  many  ob- 
jects, each  purporting  to  contain  magical  proper- 
ties, might  be  grouped  for  special  efficacy,  as  when 
inscribed  pieces  of  different  stones  of  peculiar  shape 
were  formed  into  necklaces  or  bracelets. 

Precious  stones  were  often  employed  as  amulets, 
and  some  even  ground  them  up  and  took  them  in- 
ternally in  order  to  be  more  sure  of  their  magical 
effects.  "  Butler  quotes  from  Encelius,  who  says 
that  the  Garnet,  if  hung  about  the  neck  or  taken  in 
drink,  much  assisteth  sorrow  and  recreates  the  heart; 
and  the  chrysolite  is  described  as  the  friend  of 
wisdom  and  the  enemy  of  folly.  Renodeus  admires 
precious  stones  because  they  adorn  king's  crowns, 
grace  the  fingers,  enrich  our  household  stuff,  defend 


162  AMULETS 

us  from  enchantments,  preserve  health,  cure  diseases, 
drive  away  grief,  cares,  and  exhilarate  the  mind."  * 
Some  further  quotations  portray  to  us  the  efficacy 
of  other  stones : 


"Heliotropius  stauncheth  blood,  driveth  away 
poisons,  preserveth  health;  yea,  and  some  write 
that  it  provoketh  raine,  and  darkeneth  the  sunne, 
suffering  not  him  that  beareth  it  to  be  abused." 

"A  topaze  healeth  the  lunaticke  person  of  his 
passion  of  lunacie." 

"Corneolus  (cornelian)  mitigateth  the  heate  of 
the  minde,  and  qualifieth  malice,  it  stancheth 
bloodie  fluxes." 

"A  sapphire  preserveth  the  members  and  maketh 
them  livelie,  and  helpeth  agues  and  gowts,  and  suf- 
fereth  not  the  bearer  to  be  afraid;  it  hath  virtue 
against  venoms,  and  staieth  bleeding  at  the  nose, 
being  often  put  thereto. 

Aetius  "attributed  great  obstetrical  properties  to 
the  lapis  aetites,  and  gagates  stone.  The  sapphire 
when  taken  as  a  potion  pulverized  in  milk,  cured 
internal  ulcers  and  checked  excessive  perspiration. 
The  amargdine  was  highly  recommended  for  strabis- 
mus. .  .  ." 

"  Jasper,  hematite  and  hieratite  stones  were 
strongly  recommended  for  unusual  sanative  virtues, 
but  the  sapphire  excelled  as  a  remedy  for  scorpion 
bites." 

"The  Bezoar  stone  had  a  great  reputation  in 
melancholic  affections.  Manardus  says  it  removes 
sadness  and  makes  him  merry  that  useth  it." 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  vnth  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  70. 


AMULETS  163 

"Noblemen  wore  the  smargdum  attached  to  a 
chain,  in  the  belief  of  its  potential  virtues  against 
epilepsy.  The  sard  prevented  terrible  dreams,  and 
the  cornelian  worn  on  the  finger  or  suspended  from 
the  neck  pacified  anger  and  provoked  contentment. 
Onyx  superinduced  troubled  sleep,  but  fastened  to 
the  throat,  stimulated  the  salivary  glands.  Saphirs 
cured  internal  ulcers  and  excessive  perspiration, 
when  taken  as  a  potion  dissolved  in  lacteal  fluids." 

"Of  the  stone  which  hight  agate.  It  is  said  that 
it  hath  eight  virtues.  One  is  when  there  is  thunder, 
it  doth  not  scathe  the  man  who  hath  this  stone  with 
him.  Another  virtue  is,  on  whatsoever  house  it  is, 
therein  a  fiend  may  not  be.  The  third  virtue  is, 
that  no  venom  may  scathe  the  man  who  hath  the 
stone  with  him.  The  fourth  virtue  is,  that  the  man, 
who  hath  on  him  secretly  the  loathly  fiend,  if  he 
taketh  in  liquid  any  portion  of  the  shavings  of  the 
stone,  then  soon  is  exhibited  manifestly  in  him, 
that  which  before  lay  secretly  hid.  The  fifth  virtue 
is,  he  who  is  afflicted  with  any  disease,  if  he  taketh 
the  stone  in  liquid,  it  is  soon  well  with  him.  The 
sixth  virtue  is,  that  sorcery  hurteth  not  the  man 
who  has  the  stone  with  him.  The  seventh  virtue 
is,  that  he  who  taketh  the  stone  in  drink,  will  have 
so  much  the  smoother  body.  The  eighth  virtue  of 
the  stone  is,  that  no  bite  of  any  kind  of  snake  may 
scathe  him  who  tasteth  the  stone  in  liquid." 

Even  as  late  as  1624,  Sir  John  Harrington,  writing 
in  his  "School  of  Salerne,"  says:  "Alwaies  in  your 
hands  use  eyther  Corall  or  yellow  Amber,  or  a  chal- 
cedonium,  or  a  sweet  Pommander,  or  some  like 
precious  stone  to  be  worne  in  a  ring  upon  the  little 
finger  of  the  left  hand;  have  in  your  rings  eyther  a 


164  AMULETS 

Smaragd,  a  Saphire,  or  a  Draconites,  which  you 
shall  bear  for  an  ornament;  for  in  stones,  as  also  in 
hearbes,  there  is  great  efficacie  and  vertue,  but  they 
are  not  altogether  perceived  by  us;  hold  sometime 
in  your  mouth  eyther  a  Hyacinth,  or  a  Crystall,  or  a 
Garnat,  or  pure  Gold,  or  Silver,  or  else  sometimes 
pure  Sugar-candy.  For  Aristotle  doth  affirme,  and 
so  doth  Albertus  Magnus,  that  a  Smaragd  worne 
about  the  necke,  is  good  against  the  Falling-sick- 
ness; for  surely  the  virtue  of  an  hearbe  is  great,  but 
much  more  the  vertue  of  a  precious  stone,  which  is 
very  likely  that  they  are  endued  with  occult  and 
hidden  vertues." 

Precious  metals  as  well  as  precious  stones  were 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  amulets.  The  Scandi- 
navians carried  metal  effigies  carved  out  of  gold  or 
silver,  or  incised  upon  tiles,  perpetually  as  amulets. 
They  were  safeguards  against  diseases  and  physical 
infirmities.  They  were  also  administered  internally 
in  cases  where  powerful  cures  were  needed.  Chaucer 
says: 

"For  gold  in  physic  is  a  cordial, 
Therefore  he  loved  gold  in  special." 

The  Basilideans,  and  other  sects  developed  from 
the  Gnostic  systems,  assigned  great  power  to  stone 
amulets,  and  prepared  them  for  their  initiates,  who 
used  them  for  identification  and  for  curative  pur- 
poses. They  quickly  acquired  a  celebrity  undi- 


AMULETS  165 

minished  for  ages,  and  were  known  under  the  general 
name  of  Abraxas.  They  were  composed  of  various 
materials,  glass,  paste,  sometimes  metals,  but  prin- 
cipally of  various  kinds  of  stones.  Through  the 
irresistible  might  of  Abrax,  their  supreme  divinity, 
the  Basilideans  were  protected  and  cured.  Clement 
of  Alexandria  strictly  interdicted  the  use  of  gems 
for  personal  ornamentation,  with  evident  allusion  to 
the  Abraxas  stones.  These  stones  had  various  in- 
scriptions carved  upon  them,  most  of  which  had 
some  hidden  meaning  of  great  puissance.  One  of 
them,  for  example,  is  engraven  with  Armenian  let- 
ters, and  contains  a  standing  invocation  for  fruitful 
delivery;  in  its  medicinal  property  it  was  evidently 
a  cure  for  sterility.1 

From  the  stone  itself  the  word  "Abraxas"  came 
to  be  used  as  an  amulet  when  written  on  paper. 
The  numerical  equivalent  of  the  Greek  letters 
when  added  together  thus,  A=l,  B=2,  P=100, 
A=l,  E=60,  A=l,  2=200,  is  365.  The  significance 
of  this  was  that  the  deity  was  the  ruler  of  365  heav- 
ens, or  of  the  angels  inhabiting  these  heavens;  he 
was  also  ruler  over  the  365  days  of  the  year.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  it  was  referred  to  by 
the  Greek  fathers,  the  name  was  evidently  Egyptian 
in  origin,  some  of  the  figures  on  the  stones  being 
strictly  Egyptian. 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
pp.  94-100. 


166  AMULETS 

Amulets  in  the  form  of  inscriptions  were  called 
"Characts,"  the  word  Abraxas  being  an  example. 
The  very  powerful  word  " Abracadabra"  was  de- 
rived from  Abraxas,  and  when  written  in  the  proper 
way  and  worn  about  the  person  was  supposed  to 
have  a  magical  efficacy  as  an  antidote  against  ague, 
fever,  flux,  and  toothache.  Serenus  Samonicus,  a 
physician  in  the  reign  of  Caracalla,  recommends  it 
very  highly  for  ague,  instructing  how  it  should  be 
written,  and  commanding  it  to  be  worn  around  the 
neck.  It  might  be  written  in  either  of  two  ways: 
reading  down  the  left  side  and  up  the  right  must 
spell  the  same  word  as  at  the  top;  or,  having  the 
left  side  always  start  the  same,  reading  up  the  right 
side  should  be  the  same  as  the  top  line.  Below  are 
the  two  forms: 

ABRACADABRA       ABRACADABRA 
BRACADABR         ABRACADABR 
RACADAB  ABRACADAB 

ACADA  ABRACADA 

CAD  ABRACAD 

A  ABRACA 

ABRAC 

ABRA 

ABR 

AB 

A 

Julius  Africanus  says  that  pronouncing  the  word  in 
the  same  manner  is  as  efficacious  as  writing  it.   The 


AMULETS  167 

Jews  attributed  an  equal  virtue  to  the  word  "Ara- 
calan"  employed  in  the  same  way.1 

Bishop  Pilkington,  writing  in  1561,  protests  against 
a  then  current  practice  in  this  way:  "What  wicket 
blindenes  is  this  than,  to  thinke  that  wearing  Pray- 
ers written  in  rolles  about  with  theym,  as  S.  Johns 
Gospell,  the  length  of  our  Lord,  the  measure  of  our 
Lady,  or  other  like,  thei  shall  die  no  sodain  death, 
nor  be  hanged,  or  yf  he  be  hanged,  he  shall  not  die. 
There  is  so  manye  suche,  though  ye  laugh,  and 
beleve  it  not,  and  not  hard  to  shewe  them  with  a 
wet  finger."  The  same  author  observes  that  our 
devotion  ought  to  "stande  in  depe  sighes  and  gron- 
inges,  wyth  a  full  consideration  of  our  miserable 
state  and  Goddes  majestye,  in  the  heart,  and  not  in 
ynke  or  paper:  not  in  hangyng  writtin  SCROLLES 
about  the  Necke,  but  lamentinge  unfeignedlye  our 
Synnes  from  the  hart." 

The  following  charact  was  found  in  a  linen  purse 
belonging  to  a  murderer  named  Jackson,  who  died 
in  Chichester  jail  in  February,  1749.  He  was 
"struck  with  such  horror  on  being  measured  for 
his  chains  that  he  soon  after  expired." 


'Ye  three  holy  Kings, 
Gaspar,  Melchior,  Balthasar, 
Pray  for  us  now,  and  in  the  hour  of  our  death." 


1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  74  f. 


168  AMULETS 

"These  papers  have  touched  the  three  heads  of 
the  holy  Kings  at  Cologne.  They  are  to  preserve 
travellers  from  accidents  on  the  road,  headaches, 
falling  sickness,  fevers,  witchcraft,  all  kinds  of  mis- 
chief, and  sudden  death." 

Belgrave  prescribes  a  cure  of  agues,  by  a  certain 
writing  which  the  patient  wears,  as  follows:  "When 
Jesus  went  up  to  the  Cross  to  be  crucified,  the  Jews 
asked  him,  saying  Art  thou  afraid?  or  hast  thou  the 
ague?  Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  am  not  afraid, 
neither  have  I  the  ague.  All  those  which  bear  the 
name  of  Jesus  about  them  shall  not  be  afraid,  nor 
yet  have  the  ague.  Amen,  sweet  Jesus,  Amen, 
sweet  Jehovah,  Amen."  He  adds:  "I  have  known 
many  who  have  been  cured  of  the  ague  by  this  writ- 
ing only  worn  about  them;  and  I  had  the  receipt 
from  one  whose  daughter  was  cured  thereby,  who 
had  the  ague  upon  her  two  years."  * 

Among  other  written  amulets,  the  first  Psalm, 
when  written  on  doeskin,  was  supposed  to  be  effica- 
cious in  childbirth.  It  was  necessary,  however,  for 
the  writer  of  such  amulets  to  plunge  into  a  bath  as 
soon  as  he  had  written  one  line,  and  after  every  new 
line  it  was  thought  necessary  that  he  should  repeat 
the  plunge. 

The  following  process  for  avoiding  inflamed  eyes 
is  taken  from  Marcellus,  380  A.  D.:  "Write  on  a 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  278  f. 


AMULETS  169 

clean  sheet  of  paper  ovficu/c,  and  hang  this  round 
the  patient's  neck,  with  a  thread  from  the  loom. 
In  a  state  of  purity  and  chastity  write  on  a  clean 
sheet  of  paper  <f>vp<j>apav}  and  hang  it  round  the 
man's  neck;  it  will  stop  the  approach  of  inflamma- 
tion. The  following  will  stop  inflammation  coming 
on,  written  on  a  clean  sheet  of  paper:  povftos, 

pvoveipas  /37^e\to9   W   KavT€(j>opa  Kal  Travres   yct/corei',  it 

must  be  hung  to  the  neck  by  a  thread;  and  if 
both  the  patient  and  operator  are  in  a  state  of 
chastity,  it  will  stop  inveterate  inflammation. 
Again,  write  on  a  thin  plate  of  gold  with  a  needle  of 
copper,  opvo)  ovpcoSr)-,  do  this  on  a  Monday;  observe 
chastity;  it  will  long  and  much  avail." 

In  Africa,  prayers  taken  from  the  Koran  are  writ- 
ten and  worn  as  amulets  at  the  present  time. 

After  the  death  of  the  philosopher  Pascal  some 
manuscript  was  found  sewed  in  his  doublet.  This 
was  a  "profession  of  faith"  which  he  always  wore 
stitched  in  his  clothing  as  a  sort  of  amulet. 

In  the  East,  generally,  the  amulet  consists  of  cer- 
tain names  of  the  Deity,  verses  of  the  Koran,  or  par- 
ticular passages  compressed  into  a  very  small  space, 
and  is  to  be  found  concealed  in  the  turban.  The 
Christians  wore  amulets  with  verses  selected  from 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  particularly  from 
the  Gospel  of  John.  The  amulets  or  charms,  called 
"grigris"  by  the  African  priests,  are  of  similar  de- 

1  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  pp.  262  f. 


170  AMULETS 

scription.  These  were  used  for  preservatives  against 
thunderbolts  and  diseases,  to  procure  many  wives 
and  to  give  them  easy  deliveries,  to  avert  shipwreck 
or  slavery,  and  to  secure  victory  in  battle.  One,  to 
be  used  for  the  last  purpose,  which  had  belonged  to 
a  king  of  Brak,  in  Senegal,  was  found  on  his  body 
after  he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  killed  in  battle 
with  the  amulet  upon  him.  It  had  the  following 
sentences  from  the  Koran:  "In  the  name  of  the 
merciful  God!  Pray  to  God  through  our  Lord  Mo- 
hammed. All  that  exists  is  so  only  by  his  command. 
He  gives  life,  and  also  calls  sinners  to  an  account. 
He  deprives  us  of  life  by  the  sole  power  of  his  name : 
these  are  undeniable  truths.  He  that  lives  owes 
his  life  to  the  peculiar  clemency  of  his  Lord,  who  by 
his  providence  takes  care  of  his  subsistence.  He  is 
a  wise  prince  or  governor."  1 

The  Jews  used  as  amulets  some  sacred  name,  such 
as  the  true  pronunciation  of  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
written  down.  The  Mischna  permitted  the  Jews  to 
wear  amulets  provided  they  had  been  found  effica- 
cious in  at  least  three  cases  by  an  approved  person. 
One  of  the  most  famous  amulets  is  that  known  as 
"Solomon's  Seal." 

Ligatures,  similar  to  the  earlier  amulets,  a  heri- 
tage from  the  northern  pagan  races,  were  freely 
applied  for  the  prevention  and  cure  of  maladies. 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  urith  .  ,  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  68  f . 


AMULETS  171 

After  imposing  invocations  and  the  addition  of 
mystical  characters,  these  medical  charms  were  pre- 
sumed to  be  of  the  greatest  efficacy,  and  ready  for 
suspension  from  the  neck.  Their  efficacy  was  admit- 
ted by  Christians,  but  they  were  condemned  on  ac- 
count of  their  pagan  and  consequently  satanic  origin. 

Alexander  of  Tralles  recommended  a  number  of 
amulets,  some  of  which  I  will  mention  later,  but 
admits  that  he  had  no  faith  in  them,  but  merely 
ordered  them  as  placebos  for  rich  and  fastidious 
patients  who  could  not  be  persuaded  to  adopt  a 
more  rational  treatment.  Baas  tells  us  that  "A 
regular  Pagan  amulet  was  found  in  1749  on  the 
breast  of  the  prince  bishop  Anselm  Franz  of  Wurz- 
burg,  count  of  Ingolstadt,  after  his  death." 

Amulets  were  also  worn  to  protect  the  wearer 
from  charms  exercised  by  others.  The  "Leech 
Book"  gives  us  one  to  be  worn  and  another  to  be 
taken  internally  for  this  purpose.  To  be  used 
"against  every  evil  rune  lay,  and  one  full  of  elvish 
tricks,  writ  for  the  bewitched  man,  this  writing  in 
Greek  letters:  Alfa,  Omega,  lesvm,  BERONIKH. 
Again,  another  dust  and  drink  against  a  rune  lay; 
take  a  bramble  apple,  and  lupins,  and  pulegium, 
pound  them,  then  sift  them,  put  them  in  a  pouch, 
lay  them  under  the  altar,  sing  nine  masses  over  them, 
administer  this  to  drink  at  three  hours." 

The  powers  of  the  mandragora,  as  an  amulet, 
place  it  almost  in  a  class  by  itself.  Fort  tell  us  that 


172  AMULETS 

in  addition  to  its  power  to  protect  herds  of  cattle 
and  horses,  to  prevent  misfortunes  of  various  kinds, 
to  preserve  the  exhilarating  wine  and  beer  against 
loss  of  their  intoxicating  property,  to  render  success- 
ful commercial  negotiations,  and  promote  infalli- 
bly, rapid  and  enormous  influence,  "  other  virtues 
of  a  surprising  character  were  awarded  the  omnipo- 
tent mandragora.  It  conciliated  affection  and  main- 
tained friendship,  preserved  conjugal  fealty  and 
developed  benevolence.  The  immensity  of  worth 
inherent  in  this  mystical  medicament,  its  vital  es- 
sence, was  by  no  means  confined  to  sustaining 
health  and  providing  certain  remedies  for  infirmities; 
its  power  manipulated  tribunals  and  secured  judicial 
favor  at  court;  and  when  this  resistless  amulet  was 
held  under  the  arm  by  a  suitor  at  law,  however 
unjust  his  cause,  the  vegetable  Rune  controlled  the 
forum  and  obtained  the  verdict."  l 

It  may  be  well  at  this  point  to  enumerate  at 
least  a  number  of  the  most  noted  amulets,  accord- 
ing to  the  disease  for  which  they  were  supposed  to 
be  efficacious. 

Ague. — On  account  of  the  periodic  character  of 
this  disease  it  was  considered  to  be  a  supernatural 
complaint  and  hence  many  unnatural  cures  were 
suggested,  among  which  were  a  number  of  amulets. 
The  Abracadabra  amulet  was  supposed  to  be  es- 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  182. 


AMULETS  173 

pecially  efficacious  in  ague.  The  chips  of  a  gallows 
put  into  a  bag  and  worn  around  the  neck,  or  next 
the  skin,  have  been  said  to  have  served  as  a  cure,  at 
least,  so  reports  Brand.1  Millefolium  or  yarrow, 
worn  in  a  little  bag  on  the  pit  of  the  stomach  is 
reported  to  have  cured  this  disease,  and  Alexander  of 
Tralles  advises,  for  a  quartan  ague,  that  the  patient 
must  carry  about  some  hairs  from  a  goat's  chin.2 

Elias  Ashmole,  in  his  Diary,  April  11,  1681,  has 
entered  the  following:  "I  tooke  early  in  the  morn- 
ing a  good  dose  of  Elixir,  and  hung  three  spiders 
about  my  neck,  and  they  drove  my  Ague  away. 
Deo  Gratias!"3 

Wristbands,  called  pericarpia,  were  employed  hi 
the  cure.  Robert  Boyle  says  he  was  cured  of  a 
violent  quotidian  ague,  after  having  in  vain  resorted 
to  medical  aid,  by  applying  to  his  wrists  "a  mixt- 
ure of  two  handfuls  of  bay  salt,  the  same  quantity 
of  fresh  English  hops,  and  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of 
blue  currants,  very  diligently  beaten  into  a  brittle 
mass,  without  the  addition  of  anything  moist,  and 
so  spread  upon  linen  and  applied  to  his  wrists."  4 

Burton  gives  us  a  leaf  from  his  own  experience. 5 
"  Being  in  the  country  in  the  vacation  time,  not 
many  years  since,  at  Lindly,  in  Leicestershire,  my 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  242. 

2  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  252. 

*  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  147. 

4  R.  Boyle,  Usefulness  of  Natural  Philosophy,  II,  p.  157. 

*  R.  Burton,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  pt.  II,  sec.  V. 


174  AMULETS 

father's  house,  I  first  observed  this  amulet  of  a 
spider  in  a  nut-shell,  wrapped  in  silk,  &c.,  so  ap- 
plyed  for  an  ague  by  my  mother;  whom,  although 
I  knew  to  have  excellent  skill  in  chirurgery,  sore 
eyes,  aches,  &c.,  and  such  experimental  medicines, 
as  all  the  country  where  she  dwelt  can  witness,  to 
have  done  many  famous  and  good  cures  upon  divers 
poor  folks  that  were  otherwise  destitute  of  help, 
yet  among  all  other  experiments,  this  methought 
was  most  absurd  and  ridiculous.  I  could  see  no 
warrant  for  it.  Quid  aranea  cum  Febre  9  For  what 
antipathy?  till  at  length  rambling  amongst  authors 
(as  I  often  do),  I  found  this  very  medicine  in  Dios- 
corides,  approved  by  Matthiolus,  repeated  by  Al- 
drovandus,  cap.  de  Aranea,  lib.  de  Insectis,  I  began 
to  have  a  better  opinion  of  it,  and  to  give  more 
credit  to  amulets,  when  I  saw  it  in  some  parties 
answer  to  experience." 

A  narrative  of  not  a  little  interest,  concerning  Sir 
John  Holt,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  1709,  should  be  given  in  this  connection. 
He  was  extremely  wild  in  his  youth,  and  being  once 
engaged  with  some  of  his  rakish  friends  in  a  trip 
into  the  country,  in  which  they  had  spent  all  their 
money,  it  was  agreed  they  should  try  their  fortune 
separately.  Holt  arrived  at  an  inn  at  the  end  of  a 
straggling  village,  ordered  his  horse  to  be  taken  care 
of,  bespoke  a  supper  and  a  bed.  He  then  strolled 
into  the  kitchen,  where  he  observed  a  little  girl  of 


AMULETS  175 

thirteen  shaking  with  ague.  Upon  making  inquiry 
respecting  her,  the  landlady  told  him  that  she 
was  her  only  child,  and  had  been  ill  nearly  a  year, 
notwithstanding  all  the  assistance  she  could  pro- 
cure for  her  from  physic.  He  gravely  shook  his 
head  at  the  doctors,  bade  her  be  under  no  further 
concern,  for  that  her  daughter  should  never  have 
another  fit.  He  then  wrote  a  few  unintelligible 
words  in  a  court  hand  on  a  scrap  of  parchment, 
which  had  been  the  direction  fixed  to  a  hamper, 
and  rolling  it  up,  directed  that  it  should  be  bound 
upon  the  girl's  wrist  and  there  allowed  to  remain 
until  she  was  well.  The  ague  returned  no  more; 
and  Holt,  having  remained  in  the  house  a  week, 
called  for  his  bill.  "God  bless  you,  sir,"  said  the 
old  woman,  "you're  nothing  in  my  debt,  I'm  sure. 
I  wish,  on  the  contrary,  that  I  was  able  to  pay  you 
for  the  cure  which  you  have  made  of  my  daughter. 
Oh!  if  I  had  had  the  happiness  to  see  you  ten  months 
ago,  it  would  have  saved  me  forty  pounds."  With 
pretended  reluctance  he  accepted  his  accommoda- 
tion as  a  recompense,  and  rode  away.  Many  years 
elapsed,  Holt  advanced  in  his  profession  of  the  law, 
and  went  a  circuit,  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench,  into  the  same  county,  where, 
among  other  criminals  brought  before  him,  was  an 
old  woman  under  a  charge  of  witchcraft.  To  sup- 
port this  accusation,  several  witnesses  swore  that 
the  prisoner  had  a  spell  with  which  she  could  either 


176  AMULETS 

cure  such  cattle  as  were  sick  or  destroy  those  that 
were  well,  and  that  in  the  use  of  this  spell  she  had 
been  lately  detected,  and  that  it  was  now  ready  to 
be  produced  in  court.  Upon  this  statement  the 
judge  desired  that  it  might  be  handed  up  to  him. 
It  was  a  dirty  ball,  wrapped  round  with  several 
rags,  and  bound  with  packthread.  These  coverings 
he  carefully  removed,  and  beneath  them  found  a 
piece  of  parchment  which  he  immediately  recog- 
nized as  his  own  youthful  fabrication.  For  a  few 
moments  he  remained  silent.  At  length,  recollect- 
ing himself,  he  addressed  the  jury  to  the  following 
effect:  " Gentlemen,  I  must  now  relate  a  particular 
of  my  life,  which  very  ill  suits  my  present  character 
and  the  station  in  which  I  sit;  but  to  conceal  it 
would  be  to  aggravate  the  folly  for  which  I  ought 
to  atone,  to  endanger  innocence,  and  to  countenance 
superstition.  This  bauble,  which  you  suppose  to 
have  the  power  of  life  and  death,  is  a  senseless  scroll 
which  I  wrote  with  my  own  hand  and  gave  to  this 
woman,  whom  for  no  other  reason  you  accuse  as  a 
witch."  He  then  related  the  particulars  of  the 
transaction,  with  such  an  effect  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people  that  his  old  landlady  was  the  last  person 
tried  for  witchcraft  in  that  county.1 

Calculus. — Boyle  tells  us  2  that  the  Lapis  Nephri- 
ticus,  a  species  of  jasper,  when  bound  to  the  left 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  96-98. 

2  R.  Boyle,  Usefulness  of  Natural  Philosophy,  Works  II,  p.  156. 


AMULETS  177 

wrist,  was  a  cure  for  this  trouble.  Others  have  borne 
evidence  to  its  efficacy. 

Childbirth. — Among  the  ancient  Britons,  when 
a  birth  was  difficult  or  dangerous,  a  girdle,  made 
for  this  purpose,  was  put  around  the  woman  and 
afforded  immediate  relief.  Until  quite  recently  they 
were  kept  by  many  families  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland.  They  were  marked  with  certain  fig- 
ures and  were  applied  with  certain  ceremonies  de- 
rived from  the  Druids.  Women  hi  labor  were  also 
supposed  to  be  quickly  delivered  if  they  were  girded 
with  the  skin  which  a  snake  has  sloughed  off.1 

Cholera. — Bontius  declared  the  Lapis  Porcinus  to 
be  good  for  cholera,  but  dangerous  to  pregnant 
women.  If  the  females  of  Malaica  held  the  stone 
in  their  hands  an  abortion  was  produced.  When 
cholera  was  prevalent  during  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century,  it  was  common  in  many  parts  of  Aus- 
tria, Germany,  and  Italy  to  wear  an  amulet  at  the 
pit  of  the  stomach,  in  contact  with  the  skin.  Petti- 
grew  describes  one  of  these  which  was  sent  to  him 
from  Hungary.  "It  consists  merely  of  a  circular 
piece  of  copper  two  inches  and  a  half  in  diameter, 
and  is  without  characters." 

Colic. — Says  Pliny,  the  extremity  of  the  intestine 
of  the  ossifrage,  if  worn  as  an  amulet,  is  well  known 
to  be  an  excellent  remedy  for  colic.  A  tick  from 

1  E.  Berdoe,  The  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  pp.  257 
and  259. 


178  AMULETS 

a  dog's  left  ear,  worn  as  an  amulet,  was  recom- 
mended to  allay  this  and  all  other  kinds  of  pain, 
but  one  must  be  careful  to  take  it  from  a  dog  that 
is  black.  Alexander  of  Tralles  recommended  the 
heart  of  a  lark  to  be  fastened  to  the  left  thigh  as  a 
remedy  for  colic.  Mr.  Cockayne,  the  editor  of 
Saxon  Leechdoms,  gives  us  further  remedies  for  colic 
which  Alexander  prescribed.  "Thus  for  colic,  he 
guarantees  by  his  own  experience,  and  the  approval 
of  almost  all  the  best  doctors,  dung  of  a  wolf,  with 
bits  of  bone  in  it  if  possible,  shut  up  in  a  pipe,  and 
worn  during  the  paroxysm,  on  the  right  arm,  or 
thigh,  or  hip,  taking  care  it  touches  neither  the  earth 
or  a  bath."  l 

Cramp. — The  following  amulets  are  mentioned 
as  specifics  against  cramp: 

" — Wear  bone  Ring  on  thumb,  or  tye 
Strong  Pack-thread  below  your  thigh." 

The  subject  of  cramp  rings  will  be  considered  in 
another  connection. 

Demoniacal  Possession.— In  the  sixth  century  exor- 
cists frequently  wrote  the  formula  on  parchment 
and  suspended  it  from  the  neck  of  the  patient.  This 
was  as  efficacious  as  the  uttered  words. 

Epilepsy. — The  elder  tree  has  been  the  founda- 
tion of  many  superstitions,  chief  among  which  have 
been  some  connected  with  epilepsy.  Blochwick 2 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  251  £  and  254.  *  Anatomic  of  the  Elder,  p.  52. 


AMULETS  179 

tells  us  how  to  prepare  an  amulet  from  an  elder 
growing  on  a  sallow.  "In  the  month  of  October, 
a  little  before  the  full  moon,  you  pluck  a  twig  of  the 
elder,  and  cut  the  cane  that  is  betwixt  two  of  its 
knees,  or  knots,  in  nine  pieces,  and  these  pieces  be- 
ing bound  in  a  piece  of  linen,  be  in  a  thread,  so 
hung  about  the  neck,  that  they  touch  the  spoon  of 
the  heart,  or  the  sword-formed  cartilage;  and  that 
they  may  stay  more  firmly  in  that  place,  they  are 
to  be  bound  thereon  with  a  linen  or  silken  roller 
wrapt  about  the  body,  till  the  thread  break  of  itself. 
The  thread  being  broken  and  the  roller  removed, 
the  amulet  is  not  at  all  to  be  touched  with  bare 
hands,  but  it  ought  to  be  taken  hold  on  by  some 
instrument  and  buried  in  a  place  that  nobody  may 
touch  it."  Some  hung  a  cross,  made  of  the  elder 
and  the  sallow  entwined,  about  the  children's  neck. 
Rings  of  various  kinds  have  always  been  sup- 
posed to  have  some  superstitious  power.  Brand  * 
tells  us  of  some  of  their  uses.  A  ring  made  from  a 
piece  of  silver  collected  at  the  communion  is  a  cure 
for  convulsions  and  fits  of  every  kind.  If  the  silver 
is  collected  on  Easter  Sunday  its  efficacy  is  greatly 
increased.  This  was  the  receipt  in  Berkshire,  but 
in  Devonshire  silver  was  not  necessary.  Here  they 
prefer  a  ring  made  from  three  nails  or  screws  dug 
out  of  a  church-yard,  which  had  been  used  to  fasten 
a  coffin.  We  are  also  informed  that  another  kind 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  231. 


180  AMULETS 

of  ring  will  cure  fits.  It  must  be  made  from  five 
sixpences  collected  from  five  different  bachelors, 
conveyed  by  the  hand  of  a  bachelor  to  a  silver- 
smith who  is  a  bachelor.  None  of  the  persons  who 
gave  the  sixpences,  however,  are  to  know  for  what 
purpose,  or  to  whom,  they  gave  them.1 

A  silver  ring  contributed  by  twelve  young  women, 
and  constantly  worn  on  one  of  the  patient's  fingers, 
has  been  successfully  employed  in  the  cure  of  epi- 
lepsy after  various  medical  means  failed.2  Lupton 
says:  "A  piece  of  a  child's  navel-string  borne  in  a 
ring  is  good  against  the  falling-sickness,  the  pains 
of  the  head,  and  the  collick."  3 

Alexander  of  Tralles  recommended  for  epilepsy  a 
metal  cross  tied  to  the  arm,  or,  in  lieu  of  that,  bits 
of  sail-cloth  from  a  shipwrecked  vessel  might  be 
tied  to  the  right  arm  and  worn  for  seven  weeks; 
the  latter  was  a  preventive  as  well  as  a  cure.  Among 
the  ancients,  Serapion  prescribed  crocodile's  dung 
and  turtle's  blood  as  a  cure  for  this  disease.4  Lemius 
remarks  that  "Coral,  Piony,  Misseltoe,  drive  away 
the  falling  Sicknesse,  either  hung  about  the  neck 
or  drunk  with  wine." 

Erysipelas. — The  elder  seems  to  have  been  effica- 
cious in  erysipelas  as  well  as  in  epilepsy,  at  least  so 


1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1794,  p.  889. 

3  London  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,  1815. 

3  Book  of  Notable  Things,  p.  92. 

4  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  pp.  253  f  and 
256. 


AMULETS  181 

we  are  told  in  the  "Anatomic  of  the  Elder."  The 
following  is  the  method  of  preparing  the  amulet. 
It  is  to  be  made  of  "Elder  on  which  the  sun  never 
shined.  If  the  piece  betwixt  the  two  knots  be  hung 
about  the  patient's  neck,  it  is  much  commended. 
Some  cut  it  in  little  pieces,  and  sew  it  in  a  knot  in  a 
piece  of  a  man's  shirt,  which  seems  superstitious." 

Evil-eye. — Coral  was  supposed  to  avert  the  bane- 
ful consequences  of  the  evil-eye,  and  Paracelsus 
recommends  it  to  be  worn  about  the  necks  of  chil- 
dren. Douce  has  given  engravings  of  several  Ro- 
man amulets  which  were  intended  to  be  used  against 
fascinations  in  general,  but  more  particularly  against 
that  of  the  evil-eye.1 

Eye  Diseases. — Cotta  relates,  so  says  Pettigrew, 
"a  merrie  historic  of  an  approved  famous  spell  for 
sore  eyes.  By  many  honest  testimonies  it  was  a 
long  time  worne  as  a  Jewell  about  many  necks, 
written  in  paper  and  enclosed  in  silke,  never  failing 
to  do  sovereigne  good  when  all  other  helpes  were 
helplesse.  No  sight  might  dare  to  reade  or  open. 
At  length  a  curious  mind,  while  the  patient  slept, 
by  stealth  ripped  open  the  mystical  cover,  and 
found  the  powerful  characters  Latin:  'Diabolus 
effodiat  tibi  oculos  impleat  foramina  stercoribus.' ' 

Vivisection  was  practised  to  procure  an  amulet 
for  sore  eyes,  according  to  the  following  prescrip- 
tion: "If  a  man  have  a  white  spot,  as  cataract,  in 

1  Illustrations  of  Shakespeare,  I,  p.  493. 


182  AMULETS 

his  eye,  catch  a  fox  alive,  cut  his  tongue  out,  let  him 
go,  dry  his  tongue  and  tie  it  up  in  a  red  rag  and 
hang  it  round  the  man's  neck."  Pliny's  way  was  to 
"take  the  tongue  of  a  foxe,  and  hange  the  same 
about  his  necke,  so  long  it  hangeth  there  his  sight 
shall  not  wax  feeble." 

Like  was  also  used  to  cure  like,  at  least  in  the  fol- 
lowing directions:  "Take  the  right  eye  of  a  Frogg, 
lap  it  in  a  piece  of  russet  cloth  and  hang  it  about 
the  neck;  it  cureth  the  right  eye  if  it  bee  enflamed 
or  bleared.  And  if  the  left  eye  be  greved,  do  the 
like  by  the  left  eye  of  the  said  Frogg."  1 

Fevers. — Charms  rather  than  amulets  were  em- 
ployed in  fevers,  yet  we  find  that  among  the  an- 
cients Chrysippus  believed  in  amulets  for  quartan 
fevers  and  Pliny  taught  that  the  longest  tooth  of 
a  black  dog  cured  quartan  fevers. 

Gout. — Alexander  of  Tralles  has  preserved  for  us 
a  remedy  for  gout  as  follows:  "A  remedy  for  the 
gout.  Write,  on  a  golden  plate  at  the  wane  of  the 
moon,  what  follows,  rolling  round  it  the  sinews  of 
a  crane.  Put  it  in  a  little  bag,  and  wear  it  near 
the  ankles.  The  words  are  meu,  treu,  mor,  phor, 
teux,  za,  z?or,  phe,  lou,  chri,  ge,  ze,  ou,  as  the  sun  is 
consolidated  in  these  names,  and  is  renewed  every 
day;  so  consolidate  this  plaster  as  it  was  before, 
now,  now,  quick,  quick,  for,  behold,  I  pronounce 

i  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  147. 


AMULETS  183 

the  great  name,  in  which  are  consolidated  things  in 
repose,  iaz,  azuf,  zuon,  threux,  bain,  choog;  con- 
solidate this  plaster  as  it  was  at  first,  now,  now, 
quick,  quick." 

Headache. — Pliny's  amulet  for  this  disease  was  an 
herb  picked  from  the  head  of  a  statue,  tied  with  a 
red  thread,  and  worn  upon  the  body. 

Hysteria. — Monardes  is  quoted  as  saying :  "When 
hysterical  persons  feel  an  attack  coming  on;  they 
may  be  relieved  by  a  stone,  which  will  prevent,  if 
constantly  worn  about  the  person,  any  subsequent 
attack.  From  my  knowledge  of  cases  of  this  kind, 
I  attach  credit  to  this  amulet." 

Melancholy. — Burton  has  treated  much  under  the 
name  of  melancholy,  and  in  respect  of  cure  mentions 
several  "amulets  and  things  to  be  borne  about." 
He  recommends  for  head  melancholy  such  things 
as  hypericon,  or  St.  'John's- wort,  gathered  on  a 
Friday  in  the  hour  of  Jupiter,  " .  .  .  borne  or  hung 
about  the  neck,  it  mightily  helps  this  affection,  and 
drives  away  all  fantastical  spirits."  * 

Plague. — During  the  visitations  of  the  plague,  the 
inhabitants  of  London  wore,  in  the  region  of  the 
heart,  amulets  composed  of  arsenic,  probably  on 
account  of  the  theory  that  one  poison  would  neu- 
tralize the  power  of  the  other.  Concerning  this, 
however,  Herring,  in  writing  concerning  preserva- 
tives against  the  pestilence,  says:  "Perceiving  many 

1  R,  Burton,  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  pt.  II,  sec.  V. 


184  AMULETS 

in  this  Citie  to  weare  about  their  Necks,  upon  the 
region  of  the  Heart,  certaine  Placents  or  Amulets, 
(as  preservatives  against  the  pestilence,)  confected 
of  Arsenicke,  my  opinion  is  that  they  are  so  farre 
from  effecting  any  good  in  that  kinde,  as  a  preserva- 
tive, that  they  are  very  dangerous  and  hurtfull,  if 
not  pernitious,  to  those  that  weare  them."  Quills 
of  quicksilver  were  commonly  worn  about  the  neck 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  the  powder  of  toad  was 
employed  in  a  similar  way. 

Pope  Adrian  is  reported  to  have  continually  car- 
ried an  amulet  composed  of  dried  toad,  arsenic,  tor- 
mental,  pearl,  coral,  hyacinth,  smarag,  and  traga- 
canth.  Among  the  Harleian  Manuscripts  is  a  letter 
from  Lord  Chancellor  Hatton  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith 
written  at  a  time  of  an  alarming  epidemic.  Among 
other  things  he  writes:  "I  am  likewise  bold  to 
recommend  my  most  humble  duty  to  our  dear  mis- 
tress (Queen  Elizabeth)  by  this  LETTER  AND 
RING,  which  hath  the  virtue  to  expell  infectious 
airs,  and  is  to  be  worn  betwixt  the  sweet  duggs,  the 
chaste  nest  of  pure  constancy.  I  trust,  sir,  when 
the  virtue  is  known,  it  shall  not  be  refused  for  the 
value."  * 

Safety  from  Wounds. — Pettigrew  gives  us  the  two 
following  examples:  "De  Barros,  the  historian,  says 
that  the  Portuguese  in  vain  attempted  to  destroy 

1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Surgery  and 
Medicine,  p.  91. 


AMULETS  185 

a  Malay  so  long  as  he  wore  a  bracelet  containing  a 
bone  set  in  gold,  which  rendered  him  proof  against 
their  swords.  This  amulet  was  afterward  trans- 
mitted to  the  Viceroy  Alfonso  d'Alboquerque,  as  a 
valuable  present. 

"In  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  we  read  that  in  an 
attempt  by  Kublai  Khan  to  make  a  conquest  of  the 
island  of  Zipangu,  a  jealousy  arose  between  the 
two  commanders  of  the  expedition,  which  led  to  an 
order  for  putting  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  garrison  to  the  sword;  and  that  in  obedience 
thereto,  the  heads  of  all  were  cut  off,  excepting  of 
eight  persons,  who,  by  the  efficacy  of  a  diabolical 
charm,  consisting  of  a  jewel  or  amulet  introduced 
into  the  right  arm,  between  the  skin  and  the  flesh, 
were  rendered  secure  from  the  effects  of  iron,  either 
to  kill  or  wound.  Upon  this  discovery  being  made, 
they  were  beaten  with  a  heavy  wooden  club,  and 
presently  died." 

Scrofula. — Lupton  says:  "The  Root  of  Vervin 
hanged  at  the  neck  of  such  as  have  the  King's  Evil, 
it  brings  a  marvellous  and  unhoped  help."  To  this 
Brand  adds:  "Squire  Morley  of  Essex  used  to  say 
a  Prayer  which  he  hoped  would  do  no  harm  when 
he  hung  a  bit  of  vervain  root  from  a  scrophulous 
person's  neck.  My  aunt  Freeman  had  a  very  high 
opinion  of  a  baked  Toad  in  a  silk  Bag,  hung  round 
the  neck."  2 

» Ibid.,  p.  79.  *  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  255. 


186  AMULETS 

Toothache. — People  in  North  Hampshire,  England, 
sometimes  wore  a  tooth  taken  from  a  corpse,  kept 
in  a  bag  and  hung  around  the  neck,  as  a  remedy 
for  toothache. 

Whooping-Cough. — About  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  there  appeared  the  following  in  the  London 
Athenceum:  "The  popular  belief  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  mark  across  the  back  of  the  ass  is  mentioned 
by  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  in  his  'Vulgar  Errors,'  and 
from  whatever  cause  it  may  have  arisen  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  hairs  taken  from  the  part  of  the  animal 
so  marked  are  held  in  high  estimation  as  a  cure  for 
the  hooping-cough.  In  this  metropolis,  at  least  so 
lately  as  1842,  an  elderly  lady  advised  a  friend  who 
had  a  child  dangerously  ill  with  that  complaint,  to 
procure  three  such  hairs,  and  hang  them  round  the 
neck  of  the  sufferer  in  a  muslin  bag.  It  was  added 
that  the  animal  from  whom  the  hairs  are  taken  for 
this  purpose  is  never  worth  anything  afterwards, 
and,  consequently,  great  difficulty  would  be  expe- 
rienced in  procuring  them;  and  further,  that  it  was 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  charm  that  the  sex  of 
the  animal,  from  whom  the  hairs  were  to  be  pro- 
cured, should  be  the  contrary  to  that  of  the  party 
to  be  cured  by  them."' 

The  Worcester  Journal  (England),  in  one  of  its 
issues  for  1845,  had  this  astounding  item:  "A  party 
from  the  city,  being  on  a  visit  to  a  friend  who  lived 
at  a  village  about  four  miles  distant,  had  occasion  to 


AMULETS  187 

go  into  the  cottage  of  a  poor  woman,  who  had  a  child 
afflicted  with  the  hooping-cough.  In  reply  to  some 
inquiries  as  to  her  treatment  of  the  child,  the  mother 
pointed  to  its  neck,  on  which  was  a  string  fastened, 
having  nine  knots  tied  in  it.  The  poor  woman 
stated  that  it  was  the  stay-lace  of  the  child's  god- 
mother which,  if  applied  exactly  in  that  manner 
about  the  neck,  would  be  sure  to  charm  away  the 
most  troublesome  cough!  Thus  it  may  be  seen  that, 
with  all  the  educational  efforts  of  the  present  day, 
the  monster  Superstition  still  lurks  here  and  there 
in  his  caves  and  secret  places."  1 

We  find  that  not  only  human  beings  but  animals 
profited  by  amulets.  An  amulet  is  used  in  the  cure 
of  a  blind  horse  which  could  hardly  have  helped  on 
the  cure  by  his  faith  in  it.  "The  root  of  cut  Malowe 
hanged  about  the  neck  driveth  away  blemishes  of 
the  eyen,  whether  it  be  in  a  man  or  a  horse,  as  I, 
Jerome  of  Brunsweig,  have  scene  myself e.  I  have 
myselfe  done  it  to  a  blind  horse  that  I  bought  for 
X  crounes,  and  was  sold  agayn  for  XL  crounes."  2 
That  was  a  trick  worth  knowing. 

Brockett  tells  us  that  "Holy-stones,  or  holed- 
stones,  are  hung  on  the  heads  of  horses  as  a  charm 
against  Diseases — such  as  sweat  in  their  stalls  are 
supposed  to  be  cured  by  this  application."  The 


1  Ibid.,  Ill,  p.  238. 

*  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  148. 


188  AMULETS 

efficacy  of  the  elder  also  extended  to  animals,  for 
a  lame  pig  was  formerly  cured  by  boring  a  hole  in 
his  ear  and  putting  a  small  peg  into  it.  We  are 
also  told  that  "wood  night-shade,  or  bitter-sweet, 
being  hung  about  the  neck  of  Cattell  that  have  the 
Staggers,  helpeth  them." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CHARMS 

"With  the  charmes  that  she  saide, 
A  fire  down  fro'  the  sky  alight." — GOWER. 

"  She  drew  a  splinter  from  the  wound, 
And  with  a  charm  she  staunch 'd  the  blood." — SCOTT. 

"Thrice  on  my  breast  I  spit  to  guard  me  safe 
From  fascinating  Charms." — THEOCRITUS. 

"Mennes  fortunes  she  can  tell; 
She  can  by  sayenge  her  Ave  Marye, 
And  by  other  Charmes  of  Sorcerye, 
Ease  men  of  the  Toth  ake  by  and  bye 
Yea,  and  fatche  the  Devyll  from  Hell." — BALE. 

"  I  clawed  her  by  the  backe  in  way  of  a  charme, 
To  do  me  not  the  more  good,  but  the  less  harme." — HEYWOOD. 

CHARMS,  as  already  noticed,  are  not  unlike  amu- 
lets in  significance  and  similarity  of  power.  The 
amulet  must  consist  of  some  material  substance  so 
as  to  be  suspended  when  employed,  but  the  charm 
may  be  a  word,  gesture,  look,  or  condition,  as  well 
as  a  material  substance,  and  does  not  need  to  be 
attached  to  the  body.  The  word  "charm "  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  word  "carmen,"  signifying  a  verse 
in  which  the  charms  were  sometimes  written,  ex- 
amples of  which  will  be  given  later.  The  medical 
term  "carminative,"  a  comforting  medicine,  really 
means  a  charm  medicine,  and  has  the  same  deriva- 
tion. 

189 


190  CHARMS 

A  charm  has  been  defined  as  "a  form  of  words  or 
letters,  repeated  or  written,  whereby  strange  things 
are  pretended  to  be  done,  beyond  the  ordinary 
power  of  nature."  It  can  be  seen,  though,  that 
this  definition  is  not  sufficiently  comprehensive. 

For  ages,  people  have  had  great  faith  in  odd  num- 
bers. They  have  often  been  used  as  charms  and 
for  medicine.  Some  one  says:  "Some  philosophers 
are  of  opinion  that  all  things  are  composed  of  num- 
ber, prefer  the  odd  before  the  other,  and  attribute 
to  it  a  great  efficacy  and  perfection,  especially  in 
matters  of  physic:  wherefore  it  is  that  many  doc- 
tors prescribed  always  an  odd  pill,  an  odd  draught, 
or  drop  to  be  taken  by  their  patients.  For  the  per- 
fection thereof  they  allege  these  following  numbers: 
as  7  Planets,  7  wonders  of  the  World,  9  Muses,  3 
Graces,  God  is  3  in  1,  &c."  Ravenscroft,  in  his 
comedy  of  "Mammamouchi  or  the  Citizen  Turned 
Gentleman,"  makes  Trickmore  as  a  physician  say: 
"Let  the  number  of  his  bleedings  and  purgations  be 
odd,  numero  Dem  impare  gaudet"  [God  delights  in 
an  odd  number]. 

Nine  is  the  number  consecrated  by  Buddhism; 
three  is  sacred  among  Brahminical  and  Christian 
people.  Pythagoras  held  that  the  unit  or  monad  is 
the  principle  and  end  of  all.  One  is  a  good  princi- 
ple. Two,  or  the  dyad,  is  the  origin  of  contrasts 
and  separation,  and  is  an  evil  principle.  Three,  or 
the  triad,  is  the  image  of  the  attributes  of  God. 


CHARMS  191 

Four,  or  the  tetrad,  is  the  most  perfect  of  numbers 
and  the  root  of  all  things.  It  is  holy  by  nature. 
Five,  or  the  pentad,  is  everything;  it  stops  the 
power  of  poisons,  and  is  dreaded  by  evil  spirits. 
Six  is  a  fortunate  number.  Seven  is  powerful  for 
good  or  evil,  and  is  a  sacred  number.  Eight  is  the 
first  cube,  so  is  man  four-square  or  perfect.  Nine, 
as  the  multiple  of  three,  is  sacred.  Ten,  or  the  dec- 
ade, is  the  measure  of  all  it  contains,  all  the  nu- 
merical relations  and  harmonies.1 

Cornelius  Agrippa  wrote  on  the  power  of  num- 
bers, which  he  declares  is  asserted  by  nature  her- 
self; thus  the  herb  called  cinquefoil,  or  five-leafed 
grass,  resists  poison,  and  bans  devils  by  virtue  of 
the  number  five;  one  leaf  of  it  taken  in  wine  twice 
a  day  cures  the  quotidian,  three  the  tertian,  four 
the  quartan  fever.2 

The  seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  was  supposed  to 
be  an  infallible  physician  as  the  following  quota- 
tions would  indicate:  "The  seventh  son  of  a  seventh 
son  is  born  a  physician;  having  an  intuitive  knowl- 
edge of  the  art  of  curing  all  disorders,  and  sometimes 
the  faculty  of  performing  wonderful  cures  by  touch- 
ing only."  "Plusieurs  croyent  qu'en  France,  les 
septiemes  garyons,  nez  de  le"gitimes  manages,  sans 
que  la  suitte  des  sept  ait  est6  interrompue  par  la 
naissance  d'aucune  fille,  peuvent  aussi  gue"rir  des 

1  S.  B.  Gould,  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  273. 
*  H.  Morley,  Life  of  Cornelius  Agrippa,  I,  p.  165. 


192  CHARMS 

fievres  tierces,  des  fievres  quartes,  at  mesme  des 
e*crouelles,  apres  avoir  jeune  trois  ou  neuf  jours 
avant  que  de  toucher  les  malades.  Mais  ils  font 
trop  de  fond  sur  le  nombre  septenaire,  en  attribu- 
ant  au  septieme  gargon,  preferablement  a  tous  au- 
tres,  une  puissance  qu'il  y  a  autant  de  raison  d'at- 
tribuer  au  sixieme  ou  au  tantieme,  sur  le  nombre 
de  trois,  et  sur  celuy  de  neuf,  pour  ne  pas  s'engager 
dans  la  superstition.  Joint  que  de  trois  que  je  con- 
nois  de  ces  septieme  gargons  il  y  en  a  deux  qui  ne 
guerissent  de  rien,  et  que  le  troisieme  m'a  avoue 
de  bonne  foy,  qu'il  avoit  eu  autrefois  la  reputation 
de  guerir  de  quantite  des  maux,  quoique  en  effet 
il  n'ait  jamais  guery  d'aucun.  C'est  pourquoy 
Monsieur  du  Laurent  a  grande  raison  de  rejetter  ce 
pretendu  pouvoir,  et  de  la  mettre  au  rang  des 
fables,  en  ce  qui  concerne  la  guerison  des  ecrou- 
elles."  ' 

Charms  were  used  to  avert  evil  and  counteract 
supposed  malignant  influences  of  all  kinds,  but  it  is 
in  their  connection  with  diseases  of  the  body  that 
we  are  chiefly  interested.  There  is  scarcely  a  dis- 
ease for  which  a  charm  has  not  been  given,  but  it 
will  be  seen  that  those  which  are  most  affected  by 
charms  are  principally  derangements  of  the  nervous 
system,  or  those  periodical  in  character — diseases, 
in  fact,  which  have  proved  to  be  most  easily  in- 
fluenced by  suggestion. 

1  M.  Thiers,  Traitt  des  Superstitions,  p.  436. 


CHARMS  193 

Charms  might  be  of  the  most  varied  composition. 
The  material  was  selected  from  the  animal,  vege- 
table, or  mineral  kingdom,  and  might  consist  of 
anything  to  which  any  magical  property  was  con- 
sidered to  belong.  Rags,  old  clothes,  pins,  and 
needles  were  frequently  employed  in  this  way.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  had  in  his  possession  a  pretended 
charm  taken  from  an  old  woman  who  was  said  to 
charm  and  injure  her  neighbor's  cattle.  It  con- 
sisted of  feathers,  parings  of  nails,  hair,  and  similar 
material,  wrapped  in  a  lump  of  clay. 

The  theory  of  similia  similibus  curantur  seems 
to  have  entered  into  mediaeval  medicine,  and  espe- 
cially into  the  manufacture  of  charms.  The  follow- 
ing prescriptions  are  examples:  "The  skin  of  a 
Raven's  heel  is  good  against  gout,  but  the  right 
heel  skin  must  be  laid  upon  the  right  foot  if  that  be 
gouty,  and  the  left  upon  the  left.  ...  If  you  would 
have  man  become  bold  or  impudent  let  him  carry 
about  with  him  the  skin  or  eyes  of  a  Lion  or  Cock, 
and  he  will  be  fearless  of  his  enemies,  nay,  he  will 
be  very  terrible  unto  them.  If  you  would  have  him 
talkative,  give  him  tongues,  and  seek  out  those  of 
water  frogs  and  ducks  and  such  creatures  notorious 
for  their  continuall  noise  making."  ' 

King  also  tells  us  that  "Hartes  fete,  Does  Fete, 
Bulles  fete,  or  any  ruder  beastes  fete  should  ofte 

1  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine," Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  147. 


194  CHARMS 

be  eaten;  the  same  confort  the  sinewes.  The  elder 
these  beastes  be,  the  more  they  strengthen."  It  is  no- 
ticeable that  not  age  but  youth  is  now  honored,  and 
to-day  only  calves'  feet  are  accorded  medicinal  value. 

Fort 1  gives  the  following  account  of  the  origin 
of  cabbalism:  "Towards  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century  an  unknown  scholiast  collected  the  exe- 
getical  elucidations,  explanations  and  interpreta- 
tions produced  by  the  Gemara,  and  united  them  to 
the  Mishna,  as  a  commentary  out  of  which  arose 
the  Talmud.  The  word  ' cabbala,'  whose  original 
significance  was  used  in  the  sense  of  reception,  or 
transmission,  obtained  at  a  later  period  the  mean- 
ing of  secret  lore,  because  the  metaphysical  and 
theosophic  idealities  which  had  been  developed  in 
the  Rabbinical  schools,  were  communicated  only  to 
a  few,  and  consequently  remained  the  undisputed 
property  of  a  limited  and  close  organization."  From 
this  there  developed  a  varied  and  complicated  sys- 
tem of  words  and  numbers  which  showed  their 
power  in  all  forms  of  magical  marvels.  Not  the 
least  common  or  puissant  of  these  was  the  healing 
of  the  sick. 

Knots  were  sometimes  used  as  charms,  and  Cock- 
ayne gives  us  an  example  in  the  preface  of  Saxon 
Leechdoms:  "As  soon  as  a  man  gets  pain  in  his 
eyes,  tie  in  un wrought  flax  as  many  knots  as  there 

1  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  72. 


CHARMS  195 

are  letters  in  his  name,  pronouncing  them  as  you 
go,  and  tie  it  round  his  neck." 

Long  before  and  long  after  New  Testament  days 
when  Jesus  used  spittle  on  the  blind,  and  the  time 
when  Vespasian  healed  the  blind  by  the  same  means, 
spittle  was  considered  a  most  efficacious  remedy  for 
various  diseases.  Levinus  Lemnius  tells  us:  " Di- 
vers experiments  shew  what  power  and  quality  there 
is  in  Man's  fasting  Spittle,  when  he  hath  neither 
eat  nor  drunk  before  the  use  of  it:  for  it  cures  all 
tetters,  itch,  scabs,  pushes,  and  creeping  sores:  and 
if  venomous  little  beasts  have  fastened  on  any  part 
of  the  body,  as  hornets,  beetles,  toads,  spiders,  and 
such  like,  that  by  their  venome  cause  tumours  and 
great  pains  and  inflammations,  do  but  rub  the  place 
with  fasting  Spittle,  and  all  those  effects  will  be 
gone  and  dispersed.  Since  the  qualities  and  effects 
of  Spittle  come  from  the  humours,  (for  out  of  them 
is  it  drawn  by  the  faculty  of  Nature,  as  Fire  draws 
distilled  Water  from  hearbs)  the  reason  may  be 
easily  understood  why  Spittle  should  do  such  strange 
things,  and  destroy  some  creatures."  * 

In  Saxon  Leechdoms  a  cure  for  gout  runs  thus: 
"Before  getting  out  of  bed  in  the  morning,  spit 
on  your  hand,  rub  all  your  sinuews,  and  say,  '  Flee, 
gout,  flee/  etc."  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  however,  is 
not  quite  sure  that  fasting  spittle  really  is  poison- 
ous to  snakes  and  vipers. 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  229  f. 


196  CHARMS 

Alexander  of  Tralles  tells  us  that  even  Galen  did 
homage  to  incantations,  and  quotes  him  as  saying: 
"Some  think  that  incantations  are  like  old  wives' 
tales;  as  I  did  for  a  long  while.  But  at  last  I  was 
convinced  that  there  is  virtue  in  them  by  plain 
proofs  before  my  eyes.  For  I  had  trial  of  their 
beneficial  operations  in  the  case  of  those  scorpion- 
stung,  nor  less  in  the  case  of  bones  stuck  fast  in  the 
throat,  immediately,  by  an  incantation  thrown  up. 
And  many  of  them  are  excellent,  severally,  and 
they  reach  their  mark." 

Even  before  our  day,  however,  there  were  some 
sceptics.  Andrews,  quoting  Reginald  Scot,  says: 
"The  Stories  which  our  facetious  author  relates  of 
ridiculous  Charms  which,  by  the  help  of  credulity, 
operated  Wonders,  are  extremely  laughable.  In  one 
of  them  a  poor  Woman  is  commemorated  who 
cured  all  diseases  by  muttering  a  certain  form  of 
Words  over  the  party  afflicted;  for  which  service 
she  always  received  one  penny  and  a  loaf  of  bread. 
At  length,  terrified  by  menaces  of  flames  both  in 
this  world  and  the  next,  she  owned  that  her  whole 
conjuration  consisted  in  these  potent  lines,  which 
she  always  repeated  in  a  low  voice  near  the  head  of 
her  patient1 

'Thy  loaf  in  my  hand, 
And  thy  penny  in  my  purse, 
Thou  art  never  the  better — 
And  I  am  never  the  worse.'" 


CHARMS  197 

Lord  Northampton  quite  fittingly  inquires:  "What 
godly  reason  can  any  Man  alyve  alledge  why  Mother 
Joane  of  Stowe,  speaking  these  wordes,  and  neyther 
more  nor  lesse, 

'Our  Lord  was  the  fyrst  Man, 
That  ever  Thome  prick'd  upon: 
It  never  blysted  nor  it  never  belted, 
And  I  pray  God,  nor  this  not  may,' 

should  cure  either  Beasts,  or  Men  and  Women  from 
Diseases?"  x 

Perhaps  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  treat  the  sub- 
ject of  charms  as  we  have  that  of  amulets,  and  pre- 
sent the  different  charms  under  the  heading  of  the 
diseases  which  they  were  supposed  to  cure. 

Ague. — Many  charms  were  given  for  this  disease, 
some  of  which  seem  to  us  to-day  most  ridiculous. 
Brand  gives  a  quotation  from  the  Life  of  Nicholas 
Mooney  who  was  a  notorious  highwayman,  exe- 
cuted with  others  at  Bristol,  in  1752.  It  is  as  fol- 
lows: "After  the  cart  drew  away,  the  hangman 
very  deservedly  had  his  head  broke  for  attempting 
to  pull  off  Mooney 's  shoes;  and  a  fellow  had  like  to 
have  been  killed  in  mounting  the  gallows  to  take 
away  the  ropes  that  were  left  after  the  malefactors 
were  cut  down.  A  young  woman  came  fifteen  miles 
for  the  sake  of  the  rope  from  Mooney's  neck,  which 
was  given  to  her,  it  being  by  many  apprehended 

1  Ibid.,  Ill,  pp.  228  and  237. 


198  CHARMS 

that  the  halter  of  an  executed  person  will  charm 
away  the  ague  and  perform  many  other  cures." 

Pettigrew  relates  that  "In  Skippon's  account  of 
a  'Journey  through  the  Low  Countries/  he  makes 
mention  of  the  lectures  of  Ferrarius  and  his  narra- 
tive of  the  cure  of  the  ague  of  a  Spanish  lieutenant, 
by  writing  the  words  FEBRA  FUGE,  and  cutting 
off  a  letter  from  the  paper  every  day,  and  he  ob- 
served the  distemper  to  abate  accordingly;  when 
he  cut  the  letter  F  last  of  all  the  ague  left  him.  In 
the  same  year,  he  says,  fifty  more  were  reported  to 
be  cured  in  the  same  manner." 

Another  charm  for  ague  was  only  effective  when 
said  up  the  chimney  on  St.  Agnes  Eve,  by  the  eldest 
female  of  the  family.  It  was  as  follows: 

"Tremble  and  go! 

First  day  shiver  and  burn. 
Tremble  and  quake! 

Second  day  shiver  and  learn: 
Tremble  and  die! 

Third  day  never  return."  * 

Pliny  said:  "Any  plant  gathered  from  the  bank 
of  a  brook  or  river  before  sunrise,  provided  that  no 
one  sees  the  person  who  gathers  it,  is  considered  as 
a  remedy  for  tertian  ague."  Lodge,  in  glancing  at 
the  superstitious  creed  with  respect  to  charms,  says : 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  94  f. 


CHARMS  199 

"Bring  him  but  a  Table  of  Lead,  with  Crosses  (and 
'Adonai/  or  'Elohim,'  written  in  it),  and  he  thinks 
it  will  heal  his  ague." 

Mr.  Marsden,  while  among  the  Sumatrans,  acci- 
dentally met  with  the  following  charm  for  the  ague : 
"(Sign  of  the  cross.)  When  Christ  saw  the  cross 
he  trembled  and  shaked  and  they  said  unto  him, 
hast  thou  ague?  and  he  said  unto  them,  I  have 
neither  ague  nor  fever;  and  whosoever  bears  these 
words,  either  in  writing  or  in  mind,  shall  never  be 
troubled  with  ague  or  fever.  So  help  thy  servants, 
0  Lord,  who  put  their  trust  in  thee!" 

From  Douce's  notes,  Mr.  Brand  informs  us  that 
it  was  usual  with  many  persons  about  Exeter  who 
had  ague  "to  visit  at  dead  of  night  the  nearest 
cross  road  five  different  times,  and  there  bury  a 
new-laid  egg.  The  visit  is  paid  about  an  hour  be- 
fore the  cold  fit  is  expected;  and  they  are  persuaded 
that  with  the  Egg  they  shall  bury  the  Ague.  If 
the  experiment  fail,  (and  the  agitation  it  occasions 
may  often  render  it  successful)  they  attribute  it 
to  some  unlucky  accident  that  may  have  befallen 
them  on  the  way.  In  the  execution  of  this  matter 
they  observe  the  strictest  silence,  taking  care  not 
to  speak  to  anyone,  whom  they  may  happen  to 
meet.  I  shall  here  note  another  Remedy  against 
the  Ague  mentioned  as  above,  viz.,  by  breaking  a 
salted  Cake  of  Bran  and  giving  it  to  a  Dog,  when 
the  fit  comes  on,  by  which  means  they  suppose  the 


200  CHARMS 

malady  to  be  transferred  from  them  to  the  Animal."  * 
This  and  similar  methods  were  designated  trans- 
plantation. 

Bites  of  Venomous  Animals. — It  is  an  old  medical 
superstition  that  every  animal  whose  bite  is  poison- 
ous carries  the  cure  within  itself,  but  external 
charms  were  also  used.  It  was  thought  that  the 
poison  of  the  Spanish  fly  existed  in  the  body,  while 
the  head  and  wings  contained  the  antidote.  "A 
hair  of  the  dog  that  bites  you"  is  the  cure  for  hy- 
drophobia, the  fat  of  the  viper  was  the  remedy  for 
its  bite,  and  "three  scruples  of  the  ashes  of  the  witch, 
when  she  had  been  well  and  carefully  burnt  at  a 
stake,  is  a  sure  catholicon  against  all  the  evil  effects 
of  witchcraft."  2 

Serpents'  bites,  which  were  always  considered 
very  dangerous,  were  said  to  be  healed  by  people 
called  sauveurs,  who  had  a  mark  of  St.  Catharine's 
wheel  upon  their  palates.  Snake  stones,  originally 
brought  from  Java,  were  supposed  to  absorb  the 
poison  by  being  simply  placed  over  the  bite.  Rus- 
sel  mentions  a  charm  against  mosquitoes,  used  in 
Aleppo.  It  consisted  of  certain  unintelligible  char- 
acters inscribed  on  a  little  slip  of  paper,  which  was 
pasted  over  the  windows  or  upon  the  lintel  of  the 
door.  One  family  has  obtained,  through  heredity, 
the  power  of  making  these  charms,  and  they  distrib- 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  252  f. 

2  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  416. 


CHARMS  201 

ute  them  on  a  certain  day  of  the  year  without  re- 
muneration. 

Navarette  was  told  that  the  best  remedy  against 
scorpions  was  to  make  a  commemoration  of  St. 
George  when  going  to  bed.  This,  he  says,  never 
failed,  but  he  also  rubbed  the  bed  with  garlic.  The 
following  is  given  as  a  cure  for  the  sting  of  the  scor- 
pion: "The  patient  is  to  sit  on  an  ass,  with  his  face 
to  the  tail  of  the  animal,  by  which  the  pain  will  be 
transmitted  from  the  man  to  the  beast."  Or  again, 
a  person  who  was  bitten  by  either  a  tarantulla  or 
a  mad  dog  must  go  nine  times  round  the  town  on 
the  Sabbath,  calling  upon  and  imploring  the  assist- 
ance of  the  saint.  On  the  third  night — the  prayers 
being  heard  and  granted,  and  the  health  restored — 
the  madness  was  removed.  The  prayer  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Thou  who  presides!  over  the  Apulian  shores, 

Thou  who  curest  the  bites  of  mad  dogs, 

Thou,  O  Sacred  One,  ward  off  this  cruel  plague, 

This  dismal  gnawing  of  dogs. 

Get  thee  far  hence,  O  madness,  O  fury." ' 

Burns. — The  following  is  "A  Charme  for  a  burn- 
ing": 

"There  came  three  angels  out  of  the  east; 
The  one  brought  fire,  the  two  brought  frost — 
Out  fire;  in  frost; 

In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

—Amen."  a 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Surgery  and 
Medicine,  pp.  104-106.  2  Pepys'  Diary,  I,  p.  323. 


202  CHARMS 

Childbirth. — Many  superstitious  practices  have 
grown  up  around  this  condition.  In  1554,  Bonner, 
Bishop  of  London,  forbade  "a  my d wife  of  his  dio- 
cese to  exercise  any  witchecrafte,  charmes,  sorcerye, 
invocations,  or  praiers,  other  than  such  as  be  allow- 
able and  may  stand  with  the  lawes  and  ordinances 
of  the  Catholike  Church."  In  1559,  the  first  year 
of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  an  inquiry  was 
instituted  "whether  you  knowe  any  that  doe  use 
charmes,  sorcery,  enchauntementes,  invocations,  cir- 
cles, witchecraftes,  southsayinge,  or  any  lyke  craftes 
or  imaginacions  invented  by  the  devyl,  and  specially 
in  the  tyme  of  woman's  travaylle."  Two  years 
before  this,  the  midwives  took  an  oath  among  them- 
selves, so  Strype  tells  us,  not  to  "suffer  any  other 
bodies'  child  to  be  set,  brought,  or  laid  before  any 
woman  delivered  of  child  in  the  place  of  her  natural 
child,  so  far  forth  as  I  can  know  and  understand. 
Also  I  will  not  use  any  kind  of  sorcerye  or  incanta- 
tion in  the  time  of  the  travail  of  any  woman." 

The  eagle  stone  and  iris  were  supposed  to  pro- 
mote an  easy  delivery,  and  the  sardonyx  was  laid 
inter  mammas  to  procure  an  easy  birth;  a  sardonyx 
formerly  belonged  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Albans 
to  be  used  for  this  purpose.  In  some  countries, 
during  childbirth,  the  men  lie  in,  keep  their  beds, 
and  are  attended  as  if  really  sick,  sometimes  as 
long  as  six  weeks.1 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  113-115. 


CHARMS  203 

Chorea. — Of  all  the  charms  against  this  disease, 
St.  Vitus'  dance,  none  seemed  so  effectual  as  an 
application  to  the  saint.  In  the  translation  of 
Naogeorgus,  Barnabe  Googe  says : 

"The  nexte  is  VITUS  sodde  in  oyle,  before  whose  ymage  faire 
Both  men  and  women  bringing  hennes  for  offring  doe  re- 

paire : 

The  cause  whereof  I  doe  not  know,  I  think,  for  some  disease 
Which  he  is  thought  to  drive  away  from  such  as  him  doe 

please." 

Colic. — This  disorder  was  cured  by  a  person  drink- 
ing the  water  in  which  he  had  washed  his  feet;  we 
might  well  consider  the  cure  worse  than  the  disease. 

Consumption. — Shaw  1  speaks  of  a  cure  for  con- 
sumptive diseases  used  in  his  time  in  Moray.  "They 
pared  the  Nails  of  the  Fingers  and  Toes  of  the  Pa- 
tient, put  these  Parings  into  a  Rag  cut  from  his 
clothes,  then  waved  their  Hand  with  the  Rag  thrice 
round  his  head  crying  Deas  soil,  after  which  they 
buried  the  Rag  in  some  unknown  place."  Dr. 
Baas  2  declares  that  natural  pills  of  rabbit's  dung 
were  in  use  on  the  Rhine  as  a  cure  for  consumption. 

"There  is  a  disease,"  says  the  minister  of  Logie- 
rait,  writing  in  1795,  "called  Glacach  by  the  High- 
landers, which,  as  it  affects  the  chest  and  lungs,  is 
evidently  of  a  consumptive  nature.  It  is  called 
Macdonald's  disease,  'because  there  are  particular 
tribes  of  Macdonalds,  who  were  believed  to  cure  it 

1  History  of  Moray,  p.  248.  2  History  of  Medicine,  p.  159. 


204  CHARMS 

with  the  Charms  of  their  touch,  and  the  use  of  a 
certain  set  of  words.  There  must  be  no  fee  given 
of  any  kind.  Their  faith  in  the  touch  of  a  Mac- 
donald  is  very  great.'  "  l 

Cramp. — Among  the  many  charms  for  cramp,  the 
following  is  taken  from  Pepys'  Diary : 2 

"Cramp  be  thou  faintless, 
As  our  Lady  was  sinless 
When  she  bare  Jesus." 

Demoniacal  Possession. — To  know  when  a  person 
is  possessed,  try  the  following,  says  King:  "Take  the 
harte  and  liver  of  a  fysshe  called  a  Pyck,  and  put 
them  into  a  pot  wyth  glowynge  hot  coles,  and  hold 
the  same  to  the  patient  so  that  the  smoke  may  entre 
into  hym.  If  he  is  possessed  he  cannot  abyde  that 
smoke,  but  rageth  and  is  angry."  "It  is  good  also 
to  make  a  fyre  in  hys  chamber  of  Juniper  wood, 
and  caste  into  the  fire  Franckincense  and  S.  John's 
wort,  for  the  evill  spirits  cannot  abyde  thys  sent, 
and  Waxe  angry,  whereby  may  be  perceived  whether 
a  man  be  possessed  or  not."  3  I  am  afraid  that 
possession  would  be  sadly  common  if  either  of  these 
tests  were  applied. 

Dislocation. — Among  the  oldest  charms  we  have 
is  one  given  by  Cato  the  Censor  for  the  reduction  of 
a  dislocated  limb,  and  passed  on  to  us  by  Pettigrew. 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  240  and  248. 
2 1,  p.  324. 

3  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  149. 


CHARMS  205 

"A  dislocation  may  be  cured  by  this  charm.  Take 
a  reed  four  or  five  feet  long;  cut  it  in  the  middle,  and 
let  two  men  hold  the  points  towards  each  other  for 
insertion.  While  this  is  doing  repeat  these  words: 
In  Alio  S.  F.  Motas  vceta,  Daries  Dardaries  Asta- 
taries  Dissunapitur.  Now  jerk  a  piece  of  iron  upon 
the  reeds  at  their  juncture,  and  cut  right  and  left. 
Bind  them  to  the  dislocation  or  fracture,  and  it  will 
effect  a  cure."  l 

Dropsy. — Toads  were  formed  into  a  powder  called 
Pulvis  JSthiopicus,  the  mode  of  preparation  being 
given  in  Bates's  Pharmacopoeia.  This  powder  was 
used  externally,  and  also  given  internally  in  cases 
of  dropsy  and  other  diseases. 

Epilepsy. — The  liver  of  a  dead  athlete  was  a 
sovereign  remedy  against  epilepsy  in  early  days. 
In  Lincolnshire  a  portion  of  a  human  skull  taken 
from  a  grave  was  grated  and  given  to  epileptics  as 
a  cure  for  fits,  and  the  water  in  which  a  corpse  had 
been  washed  was  given  to  a  man  in  Glasgow  for 
the  same  purpose.2  Another  remedy  was  also  pro- 
posed: "If  a  man  be  greved  wyth  the  fallinge  sick- 
nesse,  let  him  take  a  he- Wolves  harte  and  make  it 
to  pouder  and  use  it:  but  if  it  be  a  woman,  let  her 
take  a  she- Wolves  harte."  3 


1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  77. 

2  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Medical  Art,  pp.  397  and  414. 

»  E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  147. 


206  CHARMS 

John  of  Gladdesden,  who  was  court  physician  from 
1305-1317,  spoke  thus  concerning  epilepsy:  "Be- 
cause there  are  many  children  and  others  afflicted 
with  the  epilepsy,  who  cannot  take  medicines,  let 
the  following  experiment  be  tried,  which  I  have 
found  to  be  effectual,  whether  the  patient  was  a 
demoniac,  a  lunatic,  or  an  epileptic.  When  the 
patient  and  his  parents  have  fasted  three  days,  let 
them  conduct  him  to  church.  If  he  be  of  a  proper 
age,  and  of  his  right  senses,  let  him  confess.  Then 
let  him  hear  Mass  on  Friday,  and  also  on  Saturday. 
On  Sunday  let  a  good  and  religious  priest  read  over 
the  head  of  the  patient,  in  the  church,  the  gospel 
which  is  read  in  September,  in  the  time  of  vintage, 
after  the  feast  of  the  Holy  Cross.  After  this,  let 
the  priest  write  the  same  gospel  devoutly,  and  let 
the  patient  wear  it  about  his  neck,  and  he  shall  be 
cured.  The  gospel  is,  'This  kind  goeth  not  out  but 
by  prayer  and  fasting.'  "  l 

Among  some  African  tribes  the  foot  of  an  elk  is 
considered  a  splendid  remedy  against  epilepsy.  One 
foot  only  of  each  animal  possesses  virtue,  and  the 
way  to  ascertain  the  valuable  foot  is  to  "knock  the 
beast  down,  when  he  will  immediately  lift  up  that 
leg  which  is  most  efficacious  to  scratch  his  ear. 
Then  you  must  be  ready  with  a  sharp  scymitar  to 
lop  off  the  medicinal  limb,  and  you  shall  find  an 
infallible  remedy  against  the  falling  sickness  treas- 

1  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  327. 


CHARMS  207 

ured  up  in  his  claws."  The  American  Indians  and 
mediaeval  Norwegians  also  considered  this  a  sure 
remedy.  The  person  afflicted,  however,  must  apply 
it  to  his  heart,  hold  it  in  his  left  hand,  and  rub  his 
ear  with  it.1 

Evil-eye. — Children  were  supposed  to  be  most 
susceptible  to  the  evil-eye.  Charms  and  amulets 
were  furnished  against  fascination  in  general.  Cer- 
tain figures  in  bronze,  coral,  ivory,  etc.,  represent- 
ing a  closed  hand  with  the  thumb  thrust  out  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  fingers  called  the  fig, 
were  common.  In  Henry  IV,  Part  II,  Pistol 
says: 

"When  Pistol  lies,  do  this;  and  fig  me,  like 
The  bragging  Spaniard." 

Eye  Diseases. — Among  the  early  Germans,  am- 
bulatory female  medicists  were  not  uncommon,  and 
they  cured  largely  through  charms.  The  following 
is  a  charm  used  for  eye  diseases: 

"Three  maidens  once  going 
On  a  verdant  highway; 
One  could  cure  blindness, 
Another  cured  cataract, 
Third  cured  inflammation; 
But  all  cured  by  one  means."  2 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  pp.  84  f. 

2  G.  F.  Fort,  History  of  Medical  Economy  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
p.  196. 


208  CHARMS 

Fevers. — This  charm  was  used  for  fever:  "Wryt 
thys  Wordys  on  a  lorell  lef^«Ysmael»i*Ysmael>J* 
adjuro  vos  per  Angelum  ut  soporetur  iste  Homo  N. 
and  ley  thys  lef  under  hys  head  that  he  wete  not 
therof,  and  let  hym  ete  Letuse  oft  and  drynk  Ip'e 
seed  smal  grounden  in  a  morter,  and  temper  yt  with 
Ale."  ' 

"The  fever,"  says  Werenfels,  "he  will  not  drive 
away  by  medicines,  but,  what  is  a  more  certain  rem- 
edy, having  pared  his  nails  and  tied  them  to  a  cray- 
fish, he  will  turn  his  back,  and  as  Deucalion  did  the 
stones  from  which  a  new  progeny  of  men  arose, 
throw  them  behind  him  into  the  next  river."  2 

The  "Leech  book"3  says  that  for  typhus  fever 
the  patient  is  to  drink  of  a  decoction  of  herbs  over 
which  many  masses  have  been  sung,  then  say  the 
names  of  the  four  "gospellers"  and  a  charm  and  a 
prayer.  Again,  a  man  is  to  write  a  charm  in  silence, 
and  just  as  silently  put  the  words  in  his  left  breast 
and  take  care  not  to  go  in-doors  with  the  writing 
upon  him,  the  words  being  EMMANUEL  VERON- 
ICA. The  Loseley  MSS.  prescribe  the  following 
for  all  manner  of  fevers:  "Take  iii  drops  of  a  wom- 
an's mylke  yt  norseth  a  knave  childe,  and  do  it 
in  a  hennes  egge  that  ys  sedentere  (or  sitting),  and 
let  hym  suppe  it  up  when  the  evyl  takes  hym." 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  237. 

2  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  ,  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  92. 

3  II,  p.  139. 


CHARMS  209 

Goitre. — The  dew  collected  from  the  grave  of  the 
last  man  buried  in  a  church-yard  has  been  used  as 
a  lotion  for  goitre,  and  a  correspondent  of  Notes 
and  Queries  for  May  24,  1851,  furnishes  two  reme- 
dies then  in  use  at  Withyam,  Sussex.  "A  common 
snake,  held  by  its  head  and  tail,  is  slowly  drawn  by 
someone  standing  by  nine  times  across  the  front 
part  of  the  neck  of  the  person  affected,  the  reptile 
being  allowed,  after  every  third  time,  to  crawl  about 
for  awhile.  Afterwards  the  snake  is  put  alive  in  a 
bottle,  which  is  corked  tightly,  and  .then  buried  in 
the  ground.  The  tradition  is,  that  as  the  snake 
decays,  the  swelling  vanishes.  The  second  mode 
of  treatment  is  just  the  same  as  the  above,  with  the 
exception  of  the  snake's  doom.  In  this  case  it  is 
kidded,  and  its  skin,  sewn  in  a  piece  of  silk,  is  worn 
round  the  diseased  neck.  By  degrees  the  swelling 
in  this  case  also  disappears." 

Headache. — In  Brand's  day,  the  rope  which  re- 
mained after  a  man  had  been  hanged  and  cut  down 
was  an  object  of  eager  competition,  being  regarded 
as  of  great  virtue  in  attacks  of  headache,  and  Gross 
says:  "Moss  growing  on  a  human  skull,  if  dried, 
powdered,  and  taken  as  snuff,  will  cure  the  Head- 
ach."  Loadstone  was  also  recommended  as  a  sov- 
ereign remedy  for  this  malady.  Pliny  said  that  any 
person  might  be  immediately  cured  of  the  headache 
by  the  application  of  any  plant  which  has  grown  on 
the  head  of  a  statue,  provided  it  be  folded  in  the 


210  CHARMS 

shred  of  a  garment,  and  tied  to  the  part  affected 
with  a  red  string. 

Hemorrhage. — The  following  charm  has  been  used 
to  stop  bleeding  at  the  nose  and  other  hemorrhages : 

"In  the  blood  of  Adam  Sin  was  taken, 
In  the  blood  of  Christ  it  was  all  shaken, 
And  by  the  same  blood  I  do  the  charge, 
That  the  blood  of  (insert  name)  run  no  longer  at  large." 

Pepys  in  his  Diary  gives  us  a  Latin  charm  of  which 
the  following  is  a  translation: 

"Blood  remain  in  Thee, 
As  Christ  was  in  himself; 
Blood  remain  in  thy  veins, 
As  Christ  in  his  pains; 
Blood  remain  fixed, 
As  Christ  was  on  the  crucifix." 

Brand,  the  historian  of  Orkney,  says:  "They 
have  a  charm  whereby  they  stop  excessive  bleeding 
in  any,  whatever  way  they  come  by  it,  whether  by 
or  without  external  violence.  The  name  of  the  Pa- 
tient being  sent  to  the  Charmer,  he  saith  over  some 
words,  (which  I  heard,)  upon  which  the  blood  in- 
stantly stoppeth,  though  the  bleeding  Patient  were 
at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  Charmer.  Yea, 
upon  the  saying  of  these  words,  the  blood  will  stop 
in  the  bleeding  throats  of  oxen  or  sheep,  to  the 
astonishment  of  Spectators.  Which  account  we  had 
from  the  Ministers  of  the  Country." 


CHARMS  211 

Boyle  says:  "Having  been  one  summer  frequently 
subject  to  bleeding  at  the  nose,  and  reduced  to  em- 
ploy several  remedies  to  check  that  distemper;  that 
which  I  found  the  most  effectual  to  stanch  the  blood 
was  some  moss  of  a  dead  man's  skull,  (sent  for  a 
present  out  of  Ireland,  where  it  is  far  less  rare  than 
in  most  other  countries,)  though  it  did  but  touch 
my  skin,  till  the  herb  was  a  little  warmed  by  it."  l 

Brand  gives  "A  charme  to  staunch  blood:  Jesus 
that  was  in  Bethleem  born,  and  baptyzed  was  in 
the  flumen  Jordane,  as  stente  the  water  at  hys 
comyng,  so  stente  the  blood  of  thys  man  N.  thy 
servvaunt,  thorw  the  virtu  of  thy  holy  Name  »i« 
Jesu  •£«  &  of  thy  Cosyn  swete  Sent  Jon.  And  sey 
thys  charme  fyve  tymes  with  fyve  Pater  Nosters, 
in  the  worschep  of  the  fyve  woundys."  2 

"In  the  year  1853,"  says  Berdoe,  "I  saw  among 
the  more  precious  drugs  in  the  shop  of  a  pharma- 
ceutical chemist  at  Leamington  a  bottle  labelled  in 
the  ordinary  way  with  the  words,  Moss  from  a 
Dead-Man's  Skull.  This  has  long  been  used  super- 
stitiously,  dried,  powdered,  and  taken  as  snuff,  for 
headache  and  bleeding  at  the  nose." 

Herpes. — Turner8  notices  a  prevalent  charm 
among  old  women  for  the  shingles,  and  which  is  not 
uncommonly  heard  of  to-day.  It  was  to  smear  on 
the  affected  part  the  blood  from  a  black  cat's  tail. 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  112  f. 

*  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  237,  241,  and  268. 

3  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  p.  82. 


212  CHARMS 

He  says  that  in  the  only  case  when  he  saw  it  used 
it  caused  considerable  mischief. 

Incubus. — Stones  with  holes  through  them  were 
commonly  called  hag-stones,  and  were  often  attached 
to  the  key  of  the  stable  door  to  prevent  witches  rid- 
ing the  horses.  One  of  these  suspended  at  the  head 
of  the  bed  was  celebrated  for  the  prevention  of 
nightmare.  In  the  " Leech  book"  *  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing: "If  a  mare  or  hag  ride  a  man,  take  lupins, 
garlic,  and  betony,  and  frankincense,  bind  them  on 
a  fawn  skin,  let  a  man  have  the  worts  on  him,  and 
let  him  go  into  his  house."  Notice  the  following 
from  Lluellin's  poems: 

"Some  the  night-mare  hath  prest 
With  that  weight  on  their  brest, 

No  returnes  of  their  breath  can  passe, 
But  to  us  the  tale  is  addle, 
We  can  take  off  her  saddle, 

And  turn  out  the  night-mare  to  grasse." 

Insomnia. — In  the  Loseley  MSS.  we  find  a  re- 
ceipt "For  hym  that  may  not  slepe.  Take  and 
wryte  yese  wordes  into  leves  of  lether:  Ismael! 
Ismael!  adjuro  te  per  Angelum  Michaelum  ut  sopo- 
retur  homo  iste;  and  lay  this  under  his  bed,  so  yt 
he  wot  not  yerof  and  use  it  allway  lytell,  and  lytell, 
as  he  have  nede  yerto." 

Jaundice. — This  disease  was  sometimes  cured  by 
transplantation,  and  Paracelsus  gives  us  a  method 
1  n,  p.  139, 


CHARMS  213 

for  carrying  this  out.  Make  seven  or  nine — it  must 
be  an  odd  number — cakes  of  the  newly  emitted  and 
warm  urine  of  the  patient  with  the  ashes  of  ash  wood, 
and  bury  them  for  some  days  in  a  dunghill. 

In  the  journal  of  Dr.  Edward  Browne,  trans- 
mitted to  his  father,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  we  read 
of  a  magical  cure  for  jaundice:  "Burne  wood  under 
a  leaden  vessel  filled  with  water;  take  the  ashes  of 
that  wood,  and  boyle  it  with  the  patient's  urine; 
then  lay  nine  long  heaps  of  the  boyled  ashes  upon  a 
board  in  a  ranke,  and  upon  every  heap  lay  nine 
spears  of  crocus :  it  hath  greater  effects  than  is  credi- 
ble to  any  one  that  shall  barely  read  this  receipt 
without  experiencing."  l 

Madness. — The  early  inhabitants  of  Cornwall  used 
"to  place  the  disordered  in  mind  on  the  brink  of  a 
square  pool,  filled  with  water  from  St.  Nun's  well. 
The  patient,  having  no  intimation  of  what  was  in- 
tended, was,  by  a  sudden  blow  on  the  breast,  tum- 
bled into  the  pool,  where  he  was  tossed  up  and  down 
by  some  persons  of  superior  strength  till,  being  quite 
debilitated,  his  fury  forsook  him;  he  was  then  car- 
ried to  church,  and  certain  masses  were  sung  over 
him.  A  similar  practice  of  the  people  of  Perth- 
shire is  noticed  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  Marmion. 

"Thence  to  St.  Fillan's  blessed  well, 
Whose  spring  can  frenzied  dreams  dispel, 
And  the  crazed  brain  restore." 

1 T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  103. 


214  CHARMS 

Marasmus. — Mr.  Boyle  relates  the  case  of  a  phy- 
sician whose  wan  face  betokened  a  marasmus,  and 
who  was  induced  to  try  a  method  not  unlike  the 
sympathetic  cures.  "He  took  an  egg  and  boiled 
it  hard  in  his  own  warm  urine;  he  then  with  a 
bodkin  perforated  the  shell  in  many  places,  and 
buried  it  in  an  ant-hill,  where  it  was  kept  to  be 
devoured  by  the  emmets;  and  as  they  wasted  the 
egg,  he  found  his  distemper  to  abate  and  his 
strength  to  increase,  insomuch  that  his  disease  left 
him."  ' 

Rickets. — The  most  common  method  of  dealing 
with  this  disease  was  by  drawing  the  children  through 
a  split  tree.  The  tree  was  afterward  bound  up  and, 
as  it  healed  and  grew  together,  the  children  ac- 
quired strength;  at  least,  so  'twas  said.  Sir  John 
Cullum  saw  the  operation  performed  and  says  that 
the  ash  tree  was  selected  as  most  preferable  for  the 
purpose.  "It  was  split  longitudinally  about  five 
feet:  the  fissure  was  kept  open  by  the  gardener, 
whilst  the  friend  of  the  child,  having  first  stripped 
him  naked,  passed  him  thrice  through  it,  almost 
head  foremost.  This  accomplished,  the  tree  was 
bound  up  with  packthread,  and  as  the  bark  healed, 
so  it  was  said  the  child  would  recover.  One  of  the 
cases  was  of  rickets,  the  other  a  rupture."  Draw- 
ing the  children  through  a  perforated  stone  was 
also  a  cure  for  rickets,  providing  that  two  brass 
1  ibid.,  p.  102. 


CHARMS  215 

pins  were  carefully  laid  across  each  other  on  the 
top  edge  of  this  stone.1 

Sciatica. — Sleeping  on  stones  on  a  particular  night 
was  formerly  practised  in  Cornwall  to  cure  all  forms 
of  lameness.  Boneshave  was  the  term  used  for 
sciatica  in  Exmoor,  where  the  following  charm  was 
used  for  its  cure:  The  patient  must  lie  on  his  back 
on  the  bank  of  a  river  or  brook,  having  a  straight 
staff  lying  by  his  side  between  him  and  the  water, 
and  must  have  the  folio  wing  words  repeated  over  him: 

"Boneshave  right, 
Boneshave  straight. 
As  the  water  runs  by  the  stave 
Good  for  Boneshave."  2 

Scrofula. — Scrofula,  or  "king's-evil,"  was  best 
cured  by  the  touch  of  the  sovereign,  but,  if  this  could 
not  be  accomplished,  a  naked  virgin  could  cure  it, 
especially  if  she  spit  three  times  upon  it.  Stroking 
the  affected  parts  nine  times  with  the  hand  of  a  dead 
man,  particularly  of  one  who  had  suffered  a  violent 
death  as  a  penalty  of  his  crime,  especially  if  it  be 
murder,  was  long  practised,  and  was  said  to  be 
efficacious  in  curing  scrofula. 

Sweating  Sickness. — Aubrey  3  gives  a  selection  of 
the  favorite  prescriptions  in  use  against  the  sweat- 
ing sickness.  Among  them  was  the  following: 
"Another  very  true  medicine. — For  to  say  every 

1 J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  pp.  249  f.          "  Ibid.,  p.  245. 
8  History  of  England,  11,  p.  296. 


216  CHARMS 

day  at  seven  parts  of  your  body,  seven  paternosters, 
and  seven  Ave  Marias,  with  one  Credo  at  the  last. 
Ye  shall  begyn  at  the  ryght  syde,  under  the  right 
ere,  saying  the  'paternoster  qui  es  in  coelis,  sancti- 
ficetur  nomen  tuum,'  with  a  cross  made  there  with 
your  thumb,  and  so  say  the  paternoster  full  com- 
plete, and  one  Ave  Maria,  and  then  under  the  left 
ere,  and  then  under  the  left  armhole,  and  then  un- 
der the  left  hole,  and  then  the  last  at  the  heart, 
with  one  paternoster,  Ave  Maria  with  one  Credo; 
and  these  thus  said  daily,  with  the  grace  of  God  is 
there  no  manner  drede  hym." 

Thorns. — Three  metrical  charms  have  been  used 
for  troubles  of  this  kind.  Pepys'  Diary  records  "A 
charme  for  a  thorne": 

"Jesus,  that  was  of  a  Virgin  Born, 
Was  pricked  both  with  nail  and  thorn; 
It  neither  wealed,  nor  belled,  rankled  nor  boned; 
In  the  name  of  Jesus  no  more  shall  this." 

Another  form  of  the  same  is  this : 

"Christ  was  of  a  Virgin  born, 
And  he  was  pricked  with  a  thorn; 
It  did  neither  bell,  nor  swell; 
And  I  trust  in  Jesus  this  never  will." 

Brand  gives  another  thus : 

"Unto  the  Virgin  Mary  our  Saviour  was  born, 
And  on  his  head  he  wore  the  crown  of  thorn; 
If  you  believe  this  true  and  mind  it  well, 
This  hurt  will  never  fester,  nor  yet  swell."  l 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  264. 


CHARMS  217 

Toothache. — King  in  his  interesting  article  recites 
this  cure:  "Seeth  as  many -little  green  frogges  sit- 
ting upon  trees  as  thou  canst  get,  in  water:  take 
the  fat  flowynge  from  them,  and  when  nede  is, 
anoynt  the  teth  therwyth.  The  graye  worms  breath- 
ing under  wood  or  stone,  having  many  fete,  these 
perced  through  with  a  bodken  and  then  put  into 
the  toth,  alayeth  the  payne."  1  A  nail  driven  into 
an  oak  tree  is  reported  to  be  a  cure  for  this  pain, 
and  bones  from  a  church-yard  have  from  ancient 
times  been  used  as  charms  against  this  disease. 

An  early  idea  was  that  toothache  was  caused  by 
a  worm  and  that  henbane  seed  roasted  would  cure 
it.  The  following  from  "The  School  of  Salerne" 
formulates  this  superstition: 

"If  in  your  teeth  you  hap  to  be  tormented, 
By  meane  some  little  wonnes  therein  do  breed, 
Which  pain  (if  heed  be  tane)  may  be  prevented, 
Be  keeping  cleane  your  teeth,  when  as  you  feede; 
Burne  Francomsence  (a  gum  not  evil  sented), 
Put  Henbane  unto  this,  and  Onyon  seed, 
And  with  a  tunnel  to  the  tooth  that's  hollow, 
Convey  the  smoke  thereof,  and  ease  shall  follow." 

Even  to-day,  I  suppose,  druggists  sell  henbane 
seed  for  this  purpose.  The  seed  is  used  by  sprin- 
kling it  on  hot  cinders  and  holding  the  open  mouth 
over  the  rising  smoke.  The  heat  causes  the  seed  to 

1 E.  A.  King,  "Medieval  Medicine,"  Nineteenth  Century,  XXXIV, 
p.  148. 


218  CHARMS 

sprout,  and  thus  there  appears  something  similar 
to  a  maggot,  which  is  ignorantly  supposed  by  the 
sufferer  to  have  dropped  from  the  tooth.1 

Warts. — The  cures  for  warts  are  many  and  varied. 
There  have  been  many  charms  devised  for  their 
removal.  Grose  gives  directions  to  "Steal  a  piece 
of  beef  from  a  butcher's  shop,  and  rub  your  wart 
with  it,  then  throw  it  down  the  necessary  house,  or 
bury  it,  and  as  the  beef  rots,  your  warts  will  decay."  2 
Some  have  great  faith  in  having  a  vagrant  count 
them,  mark  the  number  on  the  inside  of  his  hat, 
and  then  when  he  leaves  the  neighborhood  he 
takes  the  warts  with  him.  Coffin  water  was  also 
considered  good  for  them. 

"For  warts,"  says  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  "we  rub 
our  hands  before  the  moon,  and  commit  any  magu- 
lated  part  to  the  touch  of  the  dead.  Old  Women 
were  always  famous  for  curing  warts;  they  were  so 
in  Lucian's  time."  3 

Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  in  a  work  already  referred  to, 
says:  "One  would  think  that  it  were  folly  that  one 
should  offer  to  wash  his  hands  in  a  well-polished 
silver  basin,  wherein  there  is  not  a  drop  of  water, 
yet  this  may  be  done  by  the  reflection  of  the  moon- 
beams only,  which  will  afford  it  a  competent  humid- 
ity to  do  it;  but  they  who  have  tried  it,  have  found 

1  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  pp.  414  f. 

2  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  108. 

3  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  241. 


CHARMS  219 

their  hands,  after  they  are  wiped,  to  be  much  moister 
than  usually;  but  this  is  an  infallible  way  to  take 
away  warts  from  the  hands,  if  it  be  often  used." 

Black  gives  us  several  ways  of  charming  away 
warts.  He  says:  "Lancashire  wise  men  tell  us  for 
warts  to  rub  them  with  a  cinder,  and  this  tied  up  in 
paper,  and  dropped  where  four  roads  meet,  will 
transfer  the  warts  to  whoever  opens  the  parcel. 
Another  mode  of  transferring  warts  is  to  touch  each 
wart  with  a  pebble,  and  place  the  pebbles  in  a  bag, 
which  should  be  lost  on  the  way  to  church;  who- 
ever finds  the  bag  gets  the  warts."  A  common 
Warwickshire  custom  was  to  rub  the  warts  with  a 
black  snail,  stick  the  snail  on  a  thorn  bush,  and  then, 
say  the  folks,  as  the  snail  dies  so  will  the  wart  dis- 
appear.1 

Warts,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  in  certain  cases 
to  be  considered  lucky.  In  "Syr  Gyles  Goosecappe, 
Knight,"  a  play  of  1606,  Lord  Momford  is  made  to 
say:  "The  Creses  here  are  excellent  good:  the  pro- 
portion of  the  chin  good;  the  little  aptnes  of  it  to 
sticke  out;  good.  And  the  wart  aboue  it  most  ex- 
ceeding good." 

Wen. — A  newspaper  of  1777  reports:  "After  he 
(Doctor  Dodd)  had  hung  about  ten  minutes,  a  very 
decently  dressed  young  woman  went  up  to  the  gal- 
lows in  order  to  have  a  wen  in  her  face  stroked 
by  the  Doctor's  hand;  it  being  a  received  opinion 

1  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  pp.  415  f. 


220  CHARMS 

among  the  vulgar  that  it  is  a  certain  cure  for  such 
a  disorder.  The  executioner,  having  untied  the 
Doctor's  hand,  stroked  the  part  affected  several 
times  therewith." 

At  the  execution  of  Crowley,  a  murderer  of  War- 
wick, in  1845,  a  similar  scene  is  described  in  the 
newspapers:  "At  least  five  thousand  persons  of  the 
lowest  of  the  low  were  mustered  on  this  occasion  to 
witness  the  dying  moments  of  the  unhappy  culprit. 
...  As  is  usual  in  such  cases  (to  their  shame  be  it 
spoken)  a  number  of  females  were  present,  and 
scarcely  had  the  soul  of  the  deceased  taken  its  fare- 
well flight  from  its  earthly  tabernacle,  than  the 
scaffold  was  crowded  with  members  of  the  'gentler 
sex'  afflicted  with  wens  in  the  neck,  with  white 
swellings  in  the  knees,  &c.,  upon  whose  afflictions 
the  cold  clammy  hand  of  the  sufferer  was  passed  to 
and  fro  for  the  benefit  of  his  executioner."  l 

Whooping-Cough. — It  was  a  common  belief  in 
Devonshire,  Cornwall,  and  some  other  parts  of 
England,  that  if  one  inquired  of  any  one  riding  on 
a  piebald  horse  of  a  remedy  for  this  complaint,  what- 
ever he  named  was  regarded  as  an  infallible  cure. 
In  Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  a  favorite  remedy  was  to 
put  the  head  of  a  suffering  child  for  a  few  minutes 
into  a  hole  made  in  a  meadow.  It  must  be  done 
in  the  evening  with  only  the  father  and  mother 
to  witness  it. 

1 J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  241. 


CHARMS  221 

A  child  in  Cornwall  received  the  following  treat- 
ment: "If  afflicted  with  the  hooping  cough,  it  is 
fed  with  the  bread  and  butter  of  a  family,  the  heads 
of  which  bear  respectively  the  names  of  John  and 
Joan.  In  the  time  of  an  epidemic,  so  numerous 
are  the  applications,  that  the  poor  couple  have  lit- 
tle reason  to  be  grateful  to  their  godfathers  and 
godmothers  for  their  gift  of  these  particular  names. 
Or,  if  a  piebald  horse  is  to  be  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, the  child  is  taken  to  it,  and  passed  thrice 
under  the  belly  of  the  animal;  the  mere  possession 
of  such  a  beast  confers  the  power  of  curing  the 
disease." 

We  have  an  account  of  a  cure  for  whooping- 
cough  in  a  Monmouthshire  paper  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  "A  few  days  since  an 
unusual  circumstance  was  observed  at  Pillgwenlly, 
which  caused  no  small  degree  of  astonishment  to 
one  or  two  enlightened  beholders.  A  patient  ass 
stood  near  a  house,  and  a  family  of  not  much  more 
rational  animals  was  grouped  around  it.  A  father 
was  passing  his  little  son  under  the  donkey,  and 
lifting  him  over  its  back  a  certain  number  of  times, 
with  as  much  solemnity  and  precision  as  if  engaged 
in  the  performance  of  a  sacred  duty.  This  done, 
the  father  took  a  piece  of  bread,  cut  from  an  un- 
tasted  loaf,  which  he  offered  the  animal  to  bite  at. 
Nothing  loath,  the  Jerusalem  poney  laid  hold  of  the 
piece  of  bread  with  his  teeth,  and  instantly  the 


222  CHARMS 

father  severed  the  outer  portion  of  the  slice  from 
that  in  the  donkey's  mouth.  He  next  clipped  off 
some  hairs  from  the  neck  of  the  animal,  which  he 
cut  up  into  minute  particles,  and  then  mixed  them 
with  the  bread  which  he  had  crumbled.  This  very 
tasty  food  was  then  offered  to  the  boy  who  had 
been  passed  round  the  donkey  so  mysteriously,  and 
the  little  fellow  having  eaten  thereof,  the  donkey 
was  removed  by  his  owners.  The  father,  his  son, 
and  other  members  of  his  family  were  moving  off, 
when  a  bystander  inquired  what  all  these  '  goings 
on'  had  been  adopted  for?  The  father  stared  at 
the  ignorance  of  the  inquirer,  and  then  in  a  half 
contemptuous,  half  condescending  tone,  informed 
him  that  'it  was  to  cure  his  poor  son's  whooping- 
cough,  to  be  sure!'  Extraordinary  as  this  may  ap- 
pear, in  days  when  the  schoolmaster  is  so  much  in 
request,  it  is  nevertheless  true." 

There  is  a  belief  in  Cheshire  that,  if  a  toad  is  held 
for  a  moment  within  the  mouth  of  the  patient,  it 
is  apt  to  catch  the  disease,  and  so  cure  the  person 
suffering  from  it.  A  correspondent  of  Notes  and 
Queries  speaks  of  a  case  in  which  such  a  phe- 
nomenon actually  occurred;  but  the  experiment 
is  one  which  would  not  be  very  willingly  tried. 
Brand  informs  us  that  "  Roasted  mice  were  for- 
merly held  in  Norfolk  a  sure  remedy  for  this 
complaint;  nor  is  it  certain  that  the  belief  is  ex- 
tinct even  now.  A  poor  woman's  son  once  found 


CHARMS  223 

himself  greatly  relieved  after  eating  three  roast 
mice!"1 

Worms. — A  Scotch  writer  in  the  last  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  observed:  "In  the  Miscella- 
neous MSS.  .  .  .  written  by  Baillie  Dundee,  among 
several  medicinal  receipts  I  find  an  exorcism  against 
all  kinds  of  worms  in  the  body,  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  be  repeated  three 
mornings,  as  a  certain  remedy."  2 

1  Ibid.,  p.  239.  •  Ibid.,  p.  240. 


4 

CHAPTER  IX 
ROYAL  TOUCH 

"Men  may  die  of  imagination, 
So  depe  may  impression  be  take." — CHAUCER. 

"When  time  shall  once  have  laid  his  lenient  hand  on  the  passions 
and  pursuits  of  the  present  moment,  they  too  shall  lose  that  imagi- 
nary value  which  heated  fancy  now  bestows  upon  them." — BLAIR. 

"The  king  is  but  a  man,  as  I  am;  the  violet  smells  to  him  as  it 
does  to  me;  the  element  shows  to  him  as  it  doth  to  me;  all  his 
senses  have  but  human  conditions;  his  ceremonies  laid  by,  in  his 
nakedness  he  appears  but  a  man;  and  though  his  affections  are 
higher  mounted  than  ours,  yet,  when  they  stoop,  they  stoop  with 
the  like  wing." — SHAKESPEARE. 

Malcolm.  Comes  the  king  forth,  I  pray  you? 

Doctor.     Ay,  sir:   there  are  a  crew  of  wretched  souls, 

That  stay  his  cure:  their  malady  convinces 

The  great  assay  of  art;  but  at  his  touch, 

Such  sanctity  hath  heaven  given  his  hand, 

They  presently  amend. 

Malcolm.  I  thank  you,  doctor.         [Exit  Doctor. 

Macduff.    What's  the  disease  he  means? 

Malcolm.  'Tis  call'd  the  evil: 

A  most  miraculous  work  in  this  good  king, 

Which  often,  since  my  here  remain  in  England, 

I  have  seen  him  do.     How  he  solicits  heaven, 

Himself  best  knows;  but  strangely- visited  people, 

All  swoln  and  ulcerous,  pitiful  to  the  eye, 

The  mere  despair  of  surgery,  he  cures; 

Hanging  a  golden  stamp  about  their  necks, 

Put  on  with  holy  prayers:  and  'tis  spoken, 

To  the  succeeding  royalty  he  leaves 

The  healing  benediction. — Macbeth,  Act  iv,  Sc.  3. 

PERHAPS  we  have  no  better  example  of  the  effect 
of  the  belief  in  healers  than  that  presented  by  what 
was  known  as  "king's  touch."  It  is  typical  of  the 

224 


ROYAL  TOUCH  225 

cures  performed  by  healers,  and  on  that  account  I 
shall  give  a  rather  full  account  of  the  phenomenon. 

Touching  by  the  sovereign  for  the  amelioration 
of  sundry  diseases  was  a  currently  accepted  thera- 
peutic measure.  The  royal  touch  was  especially 
efficacious  in  epilepsy  and  scrofula,  the  latter  being 
consequently  known  as  "king's-evil."  So  far  as 
we  are  able  to  trace  this  practice  in  history,  it  be- 
gan with  Edward  the  Confessor  in  England  and 
St.  Louis  in  France.  There  has  been  not  a  little 
dispute  concerning  its  real  origin.  "Laurentius, 
first  physician  to  Henry  IV,  of  France,  who  is  indig- 
nant at  the  attempt  made  to  derive  its  origin  from 
Edward  the  Confessor,  asserts  the  power  to  have 
commenced  with  Clovis  I,  A.  D.  481,  and  says  that 
Louis  I,  A.  D.  814,  added  to  the  ceremonial  of 
touching,  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Mezeray  also  says, 
that  St.  Louis,  through  humility,  first  added  the 
sign  of  the  cross  in  touching  for  the  king's  evil."  * 

William  of  Malmesbury  gives  the  origin  of  the 
royal  touch  in  his  account  of  the  miracles  of  Edward 
the  Confessor.  "A  young  woman  had  married  a 
husband  of  her  own  age,  but  having  no  issue  by 
the  union,  the  humours  collecting  abundantly  about 
her  neck,  she  had  contracted  a  sore  disorder,  the 
glands  swelling  in  a  dreadful  manner.  Admonished 
in  a  dream  to  have  the  part  affected  washed  by  the 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  pp.  154  f. 


226  ROYAL  TOUCH 

king,  she  entered  the  palace,  and  the  king  himself 
fulfilled  this  labour  of  love,  by  rubbing  the  woman's 
neck  with  his  fingers  dipped  in  water.  Joyous 
health  followed  his  healing  hand;  the  lurid  skin 
opened,  so  that  worms  flowed  out  with  the  purulent 
matter,  and  the  tumour  subsided.  But  as  the 
orifice  of  the  ulcers  was  large  and  unsightly,  he 
commanded  her  to  be  supported  at  the  royal  ex- 
pense until  she  should  be  perfectly  cured.  How- 
ever, before  a  week  had  expired,  a  fair  new  skin 
returned,  and  hid  the  scars  so  completely,  that 
nothing  of  the  original  wound  could  be  discovered; 
and  within  a  year  becoming  the  mother  of  twins, 
she  increased  the  admiration  of  Edward's  holiness. 
Those  who  knew  him  more  intimately,  affirm  that 
he  often  cured  this  complaint  in  Normandy;  whence 
appears  how  false  is  the  notion,  who  in  our  times 
assert,  that  the  cure  of  this  disease  does  not  proceed 
from  personal  sanctity,  but  from  hereditary  virtue 
in  the  royal  line."  1  The  fact  that  Edward  was  a 
saint  as  well  as  a  king  throws  some  light  on  the 
subject,  for  many  miracles  were  attributed  to  him. 
Jeremy  Collier  maintained  that  the  scrofula  miracle 
is  hereditary  upon  all  his  successors,  but  we  find 
that  not  blood  but  royal  prestige  was  the  secret. 
He  said  "that  this  prince  cured  the  king's  evil  is 
beyond  dispute :  and  since  the  credit  of  this  miracle 
is  unquestionable,  I  see  no  reason  why  we  should 

1  E.  Berdoe,  The  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  372. 


KINGS    TOUCH-l'IECES 


ROYAL  TOUCH  227 

scruple  believing  the  rest.  .  .  .  King  Edward  the 
Confessor  was  the  first  that  cured  this  distemper, 
and  from  him  it  has  descended  as  an  hereditary 
miracle  upon  all  his  successors.  To  dispute  the 
matter  of  fact,  is  to  go  to  the  excesses  of  skepticism, 
to  deny  our  senses,  and  be  incredulous  even  to 
ridiculousness." 

The  quotation  given  above  from  William  of 
Malmesbury  is  the  earliest  mention  of  the  gift  of  heal- 
ing by  the  royal  touch.  No  historian  at  or  near  the 
time  of  Edward  has  alluded  to  the  supposed  power 
vested  in  him.  Not  even  the  bull  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander III,  by  which  Edward  was  canonized  about 
two  centuries  after  his  decease,  makes  any  allusion 
whatever  to  the  cures  effected  by  him  through  the 
imposition  of  hands. 

English  and  French  writers  have  disagreed  not 
only  regarding  the  origin,  but  also  regarding  the 
real  possession  of  the  power,  the  English  denying 
it  to  the  French  kings  and  the  French  with  equal 
vigor  restricting  it  to  their  own  sovereigns.  There 
seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  the  sovereigns  of  both 
nations  made  cures,  but  the  healing  was  confined 
to  these  two  royal  families;  the  intermarriages  in 
the  two  families  probably  account  for  the  belief 
in  the  transmission  of  the  gift,  regardless  of  the 
origin. 

The  ability  to  heal  certain  diseases  passed  down 

1  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Great  Britain,  I,  p.  225. 


228  ROYAL  TOUCH 

from  reign  to  reign  notwithstanding  the  religious 
belief,  the  character,  or  the  legitimate  succession  of 
the  sovereign,  to  the  time  of  Queen  Anne.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  practice  was  continuous 
for  the  seven  centuries  from  Edward  the  Confessor 
to  Anne:  we  have  no  record  whatever  of  the  first 
four  Norman  kings  attempting  to  cure  any  one  by 
the  imposition  of  hands,  and  we  know  that  William 
III  refused  to  attempt  healing.  Andrew  Boorde 
defines  king's-evil  as  an  "euyl  sickenes  or  impedi- 
ment," and  advises  as  follows:  "For  this  matter 
let  euery  man  make  frendes  to  the  Kynges  maiestie, 
for  it  doth  pertayne  to  a  Kynge  to  helpe  this  infirmi- 
tie  by  the  grace  the  whiche  is  geuen  to  a  Kynge 
anoynted."  In  his  Introduction  to  Knowledge  (1547- 
1548)  he  continues:  "The  Kynges  of  England  by 
the  power  that  God  hath  gyuen  to  them,  dothe  make 
sicke  men  whole  of  a  sickeness  called  the  kynges 
euyll."  1 

There  is  a  curious  passage  in  Aubrey  in  which  he 
says:  "The  curing  of  the  King's  Evil  by  the  touch 
of  the  king,  does  much  puzzle  our  philosophers,  for 
whether  our  kings  were  of  the  house  of  York  or 
Lancaster,  it  did  the  cure  for  the  most  part."  Sir 
John  Fortescue,  in  defending  the  House  of  Lan- 
caster against  the  House  of  York,  claimed  that  the 
crown  could  not  descend  to  a  female  because  the 
Queen  was  not  qualified  by  the  form  of  anointing 

1  Quoted  by  Berdoe,  ibid.,  p.  371. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  229 

her  to  cure  the  disease  called  the  king's-evil.  It 
must  have  been  very  comforting  to  all  concerned 
to  find  that  the  power  to  cure  disease  by  the  royal 
touch  had  not  been  affected  by  the  change  of  sex 
of  the  reigning  sovereign. 

The  gift  was  not  impaired  by  the  Reformation, 
and  an  obdurate  Roman  Catholic  was  converted  on 
finding  that  Elizabeth,  after  the  Pope's  excommuni- 
cation, could  cure  his  scrofula.  Elizabeth,  how- 
ever, could  not  bring  herself  fully  to  accept  the 
reality  of  these  cures.  She  continued  the  practice 
on  account  of  the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  but 
upon  one  occasion  she  told  a  multitude  of  afflicted 
ones  who  had  applied  to  her  for  relief,  "God  alone 
can  cure  your  diseases."  I)r.  Tooker,  the  Queen's 
chaplain,  though,  certified  freely  to  his  own  knowl- 
edge of  the  cures  wrought  by  her,  as  did  also 
William  Cowles,  the  Queen's  surgeon.  Robert 
Laneham's  letter,  concerning  the  Queen's  visit  to 
Kenil worth  Castle,  relates  how,  on  July  18,  1575, 
her  Majesty  touched  for  the  evil,  and  that  it 
was  a  "day  of  grace."  "By  her  highnes  accus- 
tumed  mercy  and  charitee,  nyne  cured  of  the  peyn- 
full  and  daungerous  diseaz,  called  the  king's  euill; 
for  that  Kings  and  Queenz  of  this  Realm  withoout 
oother  medsin  (saue  only  by  handling  and  prayerz) 
only  doo  cure  it." 

James  I  wished  to  drop  it  as  a  worn-out  super- 
stition, but  was  warned  by  his  advisers  that  to  do 


230  ROYAL  TOUCH 

so  would  be  to  abate  a  prerogative  of  the  crown; 
the  practice  therefore  continued,  and  good  testi- 
mony exists  as  to  the  cures  wrought  by  him.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  from  John 
Chamberlain  to  Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  ambassador  at 
The  Hague,  dated  London,  14th  November,  1618: 
"The  Turkish  Chiaus  is  shortly  coming  for  the  Hagh. 
On  Tuesday  last  he  took  leave  of  the  king,  and 
thanked  his  majesty  for  healing  his  sonne  of  the 
kinges  evill;  which  his  majesty  performed  with  all 
solemnity  at  Whitehall  on  Thursday  was  seve- 
night."  Charles  I  also  enjoyed  the  same  power, 
notwithstanding  the  public  declaration  by  Parlia- 
ment "to  inform  the  people  of  the  superstition  of 
being  touched  by  the  king  for  the  evil."  When  a 
prisoner  he  cured  a  man  by  simply  saying,  "God 
bless  thee  and  grant  thee  thy  desire,"  the  Puritans 
not  permitting  him  to  touch  the  patient.  Where- 
upon it  is  asserted  by  Dr.  John  Nicholas  on  his  own 
knowledge,  the  blotches  and  humors  disappeared 
from  the  patient's  body  and  appeared  in  the  bottle 
of  medicine  which  he  held  in  his  hand.  Charles's 
blood  had  the  same  efficacy.  This  sovereign  sub- 
stituted in  some  cases  the  giving  of  a  piece  of  silver 
instead  of  the  gold,  which  was  usually  presented  to 
the  patient.  Badger  says  that  this  king  "excelled 
all  his  predecessors  in  the  divine  gift;  for  it  is  mani- 
fest beyond  all  contradiction,  that  he  not  only  cured 
by  his  sacred  touch,  both  with  and  without  gold, 


ROYAL  TOUCH  231 

but  likewise  perfectly  effected  the  same  cure  by  his 
prayer  and  benediction  only."  In  his  reign  the  gift 
was  exercised  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  Easter 
and  Michaelmas  being  at  first  set  apart  for  this 
purpose.  A  further  regulation,  which  is  quite  sug- 
gestive, was  that  the  patient  must  present  a  certifi- 
cate to  the  effect  that  he  had  never  before  been 
touched  for  the  disease. 

The  following  incident  is  related  concerning 
Charles  I:  "A  young  gentlewoman  of  about  six- 
teen years  of  age,  Elizabeth  Stevens,  of  Winchester, 
came  (7  October,  1648)  into  the  presence-chamber 
to  be  touched  for  the  evill,  which  she  was  supposed 
to  have;  and  therewith  one  of  her  eyes  (that  namely 
on  the  left  side)  was  so  much  indisposed,  that  by 
her  owne  and  her  mother's  testimony  (who  was  then 
also  present),  she  had  not  seene  with  that  eye  of 
above  a  month  before.  After  prayers,  read  by  Dr. 
Sanderson,  the  maide  kneeled  downe  among  others, 
likewise  to  be  touched.  And  his  majestic  touched 
her,  and  put  a  ribbon,  with  a  piece  of  money  at  it, 
in  usuall  manner,  about  her  neck.  Which  done, 
his  majesty  turned  to  the  lords  (viz.,  the  duke  of 
Richmond,  the  earl  of  Southampton,  and  the  earl 
of  Lindsey)  to  discourse  with  them.  And  the  said 
young  gentlewoman  of  her  own  accord  said  openly: 
'Now,  God  be  praised!  I  can  see  of  this  fore  eye.' 
And  afterwards  declared  she  did  see  more  and  more 
by  it,  &  could,  by  degrees,  endure  the  light  of  the 


232  ROYAL  TOUCH 

candle.  All  which  his  majestic,  in  the  presence  of 
the  said  lords  &  many  others,  examined  himself,  & 
found  to  be  true.  And  it  hath  since  been  discovered 
that,  some  months  agone,  the  said  young  gentle- 
woman professed  that,  as  soon  as  she  was  come  of 
age  sufficient,  she  would  convey  over  to  the  king's 
use  all  her  land;  which  to  the  valew  of  about  £130 
per  annum,  her  father  deceased  had  left  her  sole 
hey  re  unto."  1 

Charles  II,  perhaps  the  most  unworthy  of  Eng- 
lish monarchs,  was  by  far  the  busiest  healer,  and 
even  while  in  exile  in  the  Netherlands  he  retained 
the  power  to  cure.  In  one  month  he  touched  two 
hundred  and  sixty  at  Breda,  and  Lower  said:  "It 
was  not  without  success,  since  it  was  the  experience 
that  drew  thither  every  day  a  great  number  of 
those  diseased  even  from  the  most  remote  provinces 
of  Germany."  An  official  register  of  the  persons 
touched  was  kept  for  every  month  in  his  reign,  but 
about  two  and  a  half  years  appear  to  be  wanting. 
The  smallest  number  he  touched  in  one  year  was 
2,983;  that  was  in  1669.  In  1682  he  touched  8,500 
persons.  In  1684  the  throng  was  such  that  six  or 
seven  of  the  sick  were  trampled  to  death.  The 
total  number  touched  in  his  reign  was  92,107.2  It 
is  instructive  to  note,  however,  that  while  in  no 
other  reign  were  so  many  people  touched  for  scrofula 

1  J.  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  pp.  257  f. 

*  T.  B.  Macaulay,  History  of  England,  III,  pp.  378  f. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  233 

and  so  many  cures  vouched  for,  in  no  other  reign 
did  so  many  people  die  of  that  disease.1 

John  Browne,  surgeon  in  ordinary  to  his  majesty 
and  to  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  and  author  of  many 
learned  works  on  surgery  and  anatomy,  published 
accounts  of  sixty  cures  due  to  this  monarch.  He 
says  a  surgeon  attested  the  reality  of  the  disease 
before  the  miracle  was  performed,  to  exclude  im- 
postors who  were  seeking  the  gold,  for,  in  addition 
to  the  regular  formula,  the  king  hung  about  the  neck 
of  the  person  touched  a  ribbon  to  which  was  at- 
tached a  gold  coin.  Notwithstanding  these  strin- 
gent measures,  some  were  able  to  impose  on  the  king, 
for  the  coins  were  often  found  in  the  shops,  having 
been  sold  by  the  recipients.  Says  Brand:  "Bar- 
rington  tells  us  of  an  old  man  who  was  a  witness  in 
a  cause,  and  averred  that  when  Queen  Anne  was 
at  Oxford,  she  touched  him  whilst  a  child  for  the 
evil.  Barrington,  when  he  had  finished  his  evidence, 
'asked  him  whether  he  was  really  cured?  upon 
which  he  answered  with  a  significant  smile,  that  he 
believed  himself  never  to  have  had  a  complaint 
that  deserved  to  be  considered  as  the  Evil,  but  that 
his  parents  were  poor,  and  had  no  objection  to  the 
bit  of  gold.'  "  2 

While  it  was  not  unknown  before,  the  presenta- 
tion of  a  piece  of  gold  was  first  generally  introduced 

1  A.  D.  White,  History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology , 
II,  p.  47. 

2  J  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  III,  p.  256. 


234  ROYAL  TOUCH 

in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  It  probably  descended 
from  a  practice  common  in  the  time  of  Edward  III, 
whose  coin,  the  rose-noble,  is  said  to  have  been  worn 
as  an  amulet  to  preserve  from  danger  in  battle.  The 
angel-noble  of  Henry  VII,  valued  at  ten  shillings, 
appears  to  have  been  the  coin  given;  it  was  in  com- 
mon use  and  not  made  especially  for  this  purpose. 
It  had  the  figure  of  the  Archangel  Michael  on  one 
side  and  a  ship  in  full  sail  on  the  other.  Before 
hanging  it  on  the  patient's  neck  the  monarch  always 
crossed  the  sore  with  it.  The  outlay  for  gold  coins 
presented  to  the  afflicted  on  these  occasions  rose 
in  some  years  as  high  as  £10,000.  So  great  was 
the  expense  that  after  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the 
size  of  the  coin  was  reduced.  Touching  pieces  of 
the  time  of  Charles  II  are  not  rare  even  now. 

In  1684  Surgeon  John  Browne  published  a  curi- 
ous work  entitled  Adenochoiradelogia :  or  an  Anatom- 
ick-Chirurgical  Treatise  on  Glandules  and  Strumces, 
or  King's  Evil  Swellings.  In  this  the  author  traces 
the  gift  of  healing  from  our  Saviour  to  the  apostles, 
and  thence  by  a  continuous  line  of  Christian  kings 
and  governors,  and  holy  men,  commencing  with 
Edward  the  Confessor,  whom  he  regards  as  the  first 
curer  of  scrofula  by  contact  or  imposition  of  hands. 
After  referring  to  his  majesty  in  most  flattering 
terms,  he  continues  concerning  "the  admirable 
effects  and  wonderful  events  of  his  royal  cure 
throughout  all  nations,  where  not  only  English, 


ROYAL  TOUCH  235 

Dutch,  Scotch,  and  Irish  have  reaped  ease  and  cure, 
but  French,  Germans,  and  all  countreyes  whatso- 
ever, far  and  near,  have  abundantly  seen  and  re- 
ceived the  same:  and  none  ever,  hitherto,  I  am 
certain,  mist  thereof,  unless  their  little  faith  and 
incredulity  starved  their  merits,  or  they  received 
his  gracious  hand  for  curing  another  disease,  which 
was  not  really  evermore  allowed  to  be  cured  by 
him;  and  as  bright  evidences  hereof,  I  have  pre- 
sumed to  offer  that  some  have  immediately  upon 
the  very  touch  been  cured;  others  not  so  easily 
quitted  from  their  swellings  till  the  favor  of  a 
second  repetition  thereof.  Some  also,  losing  their 
gold,  their  diseases  have  seized  them  afresh,  and  no 
sooner  have  these  obtained  a  second  touch,  and 
new  gold,  but  their  diseases  have  been  seen  to  van- 
ish, as  being  afraid  of  his  majesties  presence;  wherein 
also  have  been  cured  many  without  gold;  and  this 
may  contradict  such  who  must  needs  have  the  king 
give  them  gold  as  well  as  his  touch,  supposing  one 
invalid  without  the  gift  of  both.  Others  seem  also 
as  ready  for  a  second  change  of  gold  as  a  second 
touch,  whereas  their  first  being  newly  strung  upon 
white  riband,  may  work  as  well  (by  their  favour). 
The  tying  the  Almighty  to  set  times  and  particular 
days  is  also  another  great  fault  of  those  who  can 
by  no  means  be  brought  to  believe  but  at  Good 
Friday  and  the  like  seasons  this  healing  faculty  is  of 
more  vigour  and  efficacy  than  at  any  other  time, 


236  ROYAL  TOUCH 

although  performed  by  the  same  hand.  As  to  the 
giving  of  gold,  this  only  shows  his  majesties  royal 
well-wishes  towards  the  recovery  of  those  who  come 
thus  to  be  healed."  *  He  refers  to  some  "Atheists, 
Sadducees,  and  ill-conditioned  Pharisees"  who  dis- 
believed, and  he  gives  the  letter  of  one  who  went, 
a  complete  sceptic,  to  satisfy  his  friends,  and  came 
away  cured  and  converted. 

Browne  includes  the  following  case  which  seems 
to  him  conclusive:  "A  Nonconformist  child,  in 
Norfolk,  being  troubled  with  scrofulous  swellings, 
the  late  deceased  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  01  Norwich, 
being  consulted  about  the  same,  his  majesty  being 
then  at  Breda  or  Bruges,  he  advised  the  parents  of 
the  child  to  have  it  carried  over  to  the  king  (his 
own  method  being  used  ineffectively);  the  father 
seemed  very  strange  at  this  advice,  and  utterly 
denied  it,  saying  the  touch  of  the  king  was  of  no 
greater  efficacy  than  any  other  man's.  The  mother 
of  the  child,  adhering  to  the  doctor's  advice,  studied 
all  imaginable  means  to  have  it  over,  and  at  last 
prevailed  with  her  husband  to  let  it  change  the  air 
for  three  weeks  or  a  month;  this  being  granted,  the 
friends  of  the  child  that  went  with  it,  unknown 
to  the  father,  carried  it  to  Breda,  where  the  king 
touched  it,  and  she  returned  home  perfectly  healed. 
The  child  being  come  to  its  father's  house,  and  he 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  pp.  182-184. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  237 

finding  so  great  an  alteration,  inquires  how  his 
daughter  arrived  at  this  health.  The  friends  thereof 
assured  him,  that  if  he  would  not  be  angry  with 
them,  they  would  relate  the  whole  truth;  they, 
having  his  promise  for  the  same,  assured  him  they 
had  the  child  to  be  touched  at  Breda,  whereby  they 
apparently  let  him  see  the  great  benefit  his  child 
received  thereby.  Hereupon  the  father  became  so 
amazed  that  he  threw  off  his  Nonconformity,  and 
expressed  his  thanks  in  this  manner:  'Farewell  to 
all  dissenters,  and  to  all  nonconformists ;  if  God  can 
put  so  much  virtue  into  the  king's  hand  as  to  heal 
my  child,  I'll  serve  that  God  and  that  king  so  long 
as  I  live,  with  all  thankfulness.'  "  *  It  is  unfortu- 
nate that  we  have  a  change  of  air  and  food  to  con- 
sider in  this  case,  else  we  might  have  a  good  ex- 
ample of  a  real  miracle. 

Friday  was  usually  set  apart  in  this  reign  as  the 
regular  day  for  healing,  but,  in  addition  to  this, 
special  portions  of  the  church  year  were  reserved 
for  the  exercise  of  this  gift.  Very  careful  examina- 
tions were  made  by  the  surgeons,  and  those  who 
were  found  to  be  suffering  from  the  evil  were  pre- 
sented with  a  ticket  by  the  surgeon  which  entitled 
them  to  receive  the  healing  touch  of  the  king.  If 
the  king's  touch  were  really  efficacious,  one  might 
think  that  the  disease  should  have  been  wholly 
exterminated  during  this  reign,  so  great  were  the 

1  Quoted  by  H.  Tuke,  Influence  of  the  Mind  upon  the  Body,  pp.  359  f. 


238  ROYAL  TOUCH 

number  touched.  On  the  contrary,  the  deaths  were 
more  numerous,  and  on  account  of  the  neglect  of 
medical  and  surgical  means  it  spread  very  widely. 

James  II,  it  is  said  by  Dr.  Heylin,  also  wrought 
cures  upon  babes  in  their  mothers'  arms,  and  the 
fame  of  these  cures  was  so  great  that  the  year  be- 
fore James  was  dethroned,  a  pauper  of  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  petitioned  the  general  assembly  to 
enable  him  to  make  the  voyage  to  England  to  be 
healed  by  the  royal  touch.  In  one  of  his  progresses 
James  touched  eight  hundred  persons  in  Chester 
Cathedral. 

William  III  evidently  thought  of  the  matter  as 
a  superstition,  and  on  one  occasion  he  touched  a 
patient,  saying  to  him,  "God  give  you  better  health 
and  more  sense";  notwithstanding  the  incredulity 
of  the  sovereign,  Whiston  assures  us  that  the  per- 
son was  healed.  With  honest  good  sense,  however, 
William  refused  to  exercise  the  power  which  most 
of  his  subjects  undoubtedly  thought  he  possessed, 
and  many  protests  were  made,  and  much  proof 
was  adduced  concerning  "the  balsamic  virtues  of 
the  royal  hand."  This  refusal  to  continue  the 
practice  of  touching  brought  upon  him  the  charge 
of  cruelty  from  the  parents  of  scrofulous  children, 
while  bigots  lifted  up  their  hands  and  eyes  in  holy 
horror  at  his  impiety. 

Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  was  one  of  the  last  persons 
to  receive  the  imposition  of  royal  hands;  when  a 


ROYAL  TOUCH  239 

boy  of  four  and  a  half  years,  he  was  touched  by 
Queen  Anne,  together  with  about  two  hundred 
others,  on  March  30,  1712.  In  his  case  at  least  the 
touch  was  inefficacious,  for  he  was  subject  to  scrofula 
all  his  life.  Boswell  says:1  "His  mother,  yielding 
to  the  superstitious  notion,  which,  it  is  wonderful 
to  think,  prevailed  so  long  in  this  country,  as  to  the 
virtue  of  the  royal  touch;  a  notion  which  our  kings 
encouraged,  and  to  which  a  man  of  such  inquiry 
and  such  judgment  as  Carte  could  give  credit,  car- 
ried him  to  London,  where  he  was  actually  touched 
by  Queen  Anne.  Mrs.  Johnson,  indeed,  as  Mr. 
Hector  informed  me,  acted  by  the  advice  of  the 
celebrated  Sir  John  Floyer,  then  a  physician  in 
Litchfield."  At  this  time  few  persons  but  Jacobites 
believed  in  king's  touch  as  a  miracle.  Dr.  Daniel 
Turner,  though,  relates  that  several  cases  of  scrof- 
ula which  had  been  unsuccessfully  treated  by  him- 
self and  Dr.  Charles  Bernard,  sergeant-surgeon  to 
her  majesty,  yielded  afterwards  to  the  efficacy  of 
the  queen's  touch. 

During  the  reign  of  Anne  the  sceptics  outnum- 
bered the  believers  and  at  her  death  the  practice 
was  discontinued.  Among  the  unbelievers  was  the 
above-mentioned  Dr.  Charles  Bernard,  an  account 
of  whose  conversion  is  given  by  Oldmixon  as  fol- 
lows: "Yesterday  the  queen  was  graciously  pleased 
to  touch  for  the  King's  evil  some  particular  persons 

1  Life  of  Johnson,  I,  p.  42. 


240  ROYAL  TOUCH 

in  private;  and  three  weeks  after,  December  19, 
yesterday,  about  twelve  at  noon  her  majesty  was 
pleased  to  touch,  at  St.  James',  about  twenty  per- 
sons afflicted  with  the  King's  evil.  The  more  ludi- 
crous sort  of  skeptics,  in  this  case,  asked  why  it 
was  not  called  the  queen's  evil,  as  the  chief  court  of 
justice  was  called  the  Queen's  Bench.  But  Charles 
Bernard,  the  surgeon  who  had  made  this  touching 
the  subject  of  his  raillery  all  his  lifetime  till  he  be- 
came body  surgeon  at  court,  and  found  it  a  good 
perquisite,  solved  all  difficulties  by  telling  his  com- 
panions with  a  fleer  'Really  one  could  not  have 
thought  it,  if  one  had  not  seen  it.'  A  friend  of  mine 
heard  him  say  it,  and  knew  well  his  opinion  of  it."  * 

In  1745  there  was  an  attempted  revival  of  the 
practice  when  Prince  Charles  Edward  exercised  this 
prerogative  of  royalty. 

Henry  VII  was  the  first  monarch  to  establish  a 
particular  ceremony  to  be  observed  at  the  healings. 
He  probably  derived  this  from  an  old  form  of  exor- 
cism used  for  the  dispossessing  of  evil  spirits.  This 
was  altered  at  various  times  but  may  still  be  found 
in  the  prayer-book  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne. 
Indeed,  it  was  not  until  some  time  after  the  acces- 
sion of  George  I  that  the  University  of  Oxford 
ceased  to  reprint  the  office  of  healing,  together  with 
the  Liturgy. 

The  routes  to  be  travelled  by  royal  personages 

1  History  of  England,  II,  p.  302. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  241 

and  the  days  on  which  the  miracle  was  to  be  wrought 
were  fixed  at  sittings  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  the 
clergy  of  all  the  parish  churches  of  the  realm  were 
solemnly  notified.  They,  in  turn,  informed  the 
people,  and  the  sufferers  along  the  way  had  many 
days  in  which  to  cherish  the  expectation  of  healing, 
in  itself  so  beneficial.  The  ceremony  was  conducted 
with  great  solemnity  and  pomp.  It  has  been  vividly 
described  by  Macaulay  as  follows:  "When  the  ap- 
pointed time  came,  several  divines  in  full  canonicals 
stood  round  the  canopy  of  state.  The  surgeon  of  the 
royal  household  introduced  the  sick.  A  passage  of 
Mark  16.  was  read.  When  the  words  'They  shall  lay 
their  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover,'  had 
been  pronounced,  there  was  a  pause  and  one  of  the 
sick  was  brought  to  the  king.  His  Majesty  stroked 
the  ulcers  and  swellings,  and  hung  round  the  pa- 
tient's neck  a  white  ribbon  to  which  was  fastened 
a  gold  coin.  The  other  sufferers  were  led  up  in 
succession;  and  as  each  was  touched  the  chap- 
lain repeated  the  incantation,  'They  shall  lay  their 
hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover.'  Then 
came  the  epistle,  prayers,  antiphonies,  and  a  bene- 
diction." 

Evelyn,  in  his  Diary,  gives  us  the  form  em- 
ployed by  Charles  II  in  July,  1660,  as  follows:  "His 
Majestie  first  began  to  touch  for  evil  according  to 
costume,  thus — His  majestic  sitting  under  his  state 
in  the  Banquetting  House,  the  Chirurgeons  cause 


242  ROYAL  TOUCH 

the  sick  to  be  brought  or  led  up  to  the  throne,  where 
they  kneeling,  the  King  strokes  their  faces  or  cheekes 
with  both  his  hands  at  once,  at  which  instant  a 
Chaplaine  in  his  formalities  says:  'He  put  his  hands 
on  them  and  he  healed  them/  This  is  sayed  to 
every  one  in  particular.  When  they  have  all  been 
touched  they  come  up  againe  in  the  same  order; 
and  the  other  Chaplaine  kneeling,  and  having  angel- 
gold  strung  on  white  ribbon  on  his  arme,  delivers 
them  one  by  one  to  his  Majestic,  who  puts  them 
about  the  necks  of  the  touched  as  they  passe,  whilst 
the  first  Chaplaine  repeats:  'That  is  the  true  light 
who  came  into  the  world/  Then  follows  an  Epistle 
(as  at  first,  a  Gospel)  with  the  Liturgy,  prayers  for 
the  sick  with  some  alteration,  lastly  the  blessing: 
and  the  Lo.  Chamberlaine  and  Comptroller  of  the 
Household,  bring  a  basin,  ewer,  and  towel  for  his 
Majestic  to  wash."  * 

The  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  king's  touch  was 
general,  and  Lecky  tells  us  its  genuineness  "was 
asserted  by  the  privy  council,  by  the  bishops  of 
two  religions,  by  the  general  voice  of  the  clergy  in 
the  palmiest  days  of  the  English  Church,  by  the 
University  of  Oxford,  and  by  the  enthusiastic  as- 
sent of  the  people.  It  survived  the  ages  of  the 
Reformation,  of  Bacon,  of  Milton,  and  of  Hobbes. 
It  was  by  no  means  extinct  at  the  age  of  Locke, 
and  would  probably  have  lasted  still  longer,  had 

1  Vol.  I,  p.  323. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  243 

not  the  change  of  dynasty  at  the  Revolution  as- 
sisted the  tardy  scepticism."  * 

In  France  there  was  the  same  belief  in  the  efficacy 
of  the  royal  touch.  Philip  I  exercised  the  gift,  but 
the  French  historians  say  that  he  was  deprived  of 
the  power  on  account  of  the  irregularity  of  his  life. 
Laurentius  reports  that  Francis  I,  when  a  prisoner 
in  Spain,  cured  a  great  number  of  people  of  struma 
(scrofula).  A  paraphrase  of  the  Latin  verse  which 
Lascaris  wrote  concerning  this  event  is  as  follows: 

"The  king  applies  his  hand,  diseases  fly, 
And  though  a  captive,  still  the  powers  on  high 
Regard  his  touch.     This  striking  proof  is  giv'n, 
That  they  who  bound  him  are  the  foes  of  Heav'n." 

Concerning  the  touching  by  the  kings  of  France, 
Pettigrew  says:  "In  the  church  of  St.  Maclou,  in 
St.  Denys,  Heylin  (Cosmograph.,  p.  184)  says  the 
kings  of  France,  with  a  fast  of  nine  days  and  other 
penances,  used  to  receive  the  gift  of  healing  the 
king's  evil  with  nothing  but  a  touch.  Philip  de 
Comines  states,  that  the  king  always  confessed  be- 
fore the  cure  of  the  king's  evil.  Butler  (Lives  of  the 
Saints,  vol.  VIII,  p.  394)  says,  "The  French  kings 
usually  only  perform  this  ceremony  on  the  day  they 
have  received  the  holy  communion/  The  histo- 
rians who  write  under  the  first  two  families  of  the 
French  kings  are  altogether  silent  as  to  the  kings' 
curing  the  evil  by  the  touching.  (Veyrard  Trav., 

1 W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  I,  p.  364. 


244  ROYAL  TOUCH 

p.  109.)  Philip  of  Valois  is  reported  to  have  cured 
1400  people  afflicted  with  the  king's  evil.  Of  Louis 
XIII,  it  was  said  that  he  had  assigned  all  his  power 
to  Cardinal  Richelieu,  except  that  of  curing  the 
king's  evil.  Carte  says,  some  of  the  French  writers 
ascribe  the  gift  of  healing  to  their  king's  devotion 
toward  the  relics  of  St.  Marculf,  in  the  church 
of  Corbigny,  in  Champagne:  to  which  the  kings 
of  France,  immediately  after  their  coronation  at 
Rheims,  used  to  go  in  solemn  procession.  A  ven- 
eration was  also  paid  to  this  saint  in  England,  and 
a  room  in  memory  of  him,  in  the  palace  of  West- 
minster, has  frequently  been  mentioned  in  the  Rolls 
of  Parliament,  and  which  was  called  the  Chamber 
of  St.  Marculf,  being,  as  Carte  conjectures,  prob- 
ably the  place  where  the  kings  used  to  touch  for  the 
evil.  This  room  was  afterward  called  the  Painted 
Chamber.  The  French  kings  practised  the  touch 
extensively.  Gemelli,  the  traveller,  states,  that 
Louis  XIV  touched  1600  persons  on  Easter  Sunday, 
1686.1  The  words  he  used  were,  'Le  Roy  te  touche, 
Dieu  te  guerisse.'  Every  Frenchman  received  fif- 
teen sous,  and  every  foreigner  thirty.  The  French 
kings  kept  up  the  practice  to  1776."  2 

"Servetus,"  says  Hammond,  "who  was  not  of  a 
credulous  mind,  says  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Ptol- 
emy, published  in  1535,  that  he  had  seen  the  king 

1  This  was  at  Versailles. 

3  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  pp.  156  f. 


ROYAL  TOUCH  245 

touch  many  persons  for  the  disease,  but  he  had 
never  seen  any  that  were  cured  thereby.  But  the 
last  clause  of  this  sentence  excited  the  ire  of  the 
censor,  and  in  the  next  edition,  published  in  1541, 
the  words  'an  sanati  fuerint  non  vidi'  were  changed 
to  'pluresque  sanatos  passim  audivi':  'I  have  heard 
of  many  that  were  cured.'  Testimony  in  support 
of  miracles  has  often  been  manufactured,  but  the 
natural  obstinacy  and  truthfulness  of  Servetus 
would  not  admit  of  his  giving  his  personal  endorse- 
ment at  the  expense  of  his  convictions."  1 

Within  the  last  half-century  we  have  had  an 
example  of  the  value  of  the  royal  touch.  When 
cholera  was  raging  in  Naples  in  1865,  and  the  peo- 
ple were  rushing  from  the  city  by  thousands,  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  went  the  rounds  of  the  hospitals 
in  an  endeavor  to  stimulate  courage  in  the  hearts  of 
his  people.  He  lingered  at  the  bedside  of  the  pa- 
tients and  spoke  encouraging  words  to  them.  On 
a  cot  lay  one  man  already  marked  for  death.  The 
king  stepped  to  his  side,  and  pressing  his  damp,  icy 
hand,  said,  "Take  courage,  poor  man,  and  try  to 
recover  soon."  That  evening  the  physicians  re- 
ported a  diminution  of  the  disease  in  the  course 
of  the  day,  and  the  man  marked  for  death  out  of 
danger.  The  king  had  unconsciously  worked  a  mar- 
vellous cure.2 

1 W.  A.  Hammond,  Spiritism  and  Nervous  Derangement,  p.  150. 
8  C.  L.  Tuckey,  Treatment  by  Hypnotism  and  Suggestion,  p.  30. 


246  ROYAL  TOUCH 

It  seems  certain  that  there  was  not  the  efficacy 
in  king's  touch  which  was  claimed  for  it,  or  it  would 
not  have  been  discontinued  after  having  held  sway 
for  over  seven  hundred  years.  No  doubt  the  quasi- 
religious  character  of  the  office  of  the  sovereign 
helped  much  in  the  belief,  and  when  such  men  as 
Charles  II  were  able  to  heal,  little  connection  be- 
tween religion  and  healing  could  longer  be  thought 
possible,  as  far  as  the  healing  by  king's  touch  was 
concerned. 

The  Hallowing  of  Cramp  Rings  was  not  unlike 
the  king's  touch.  It  is  described  by  Bishop  Percy 
in  his  Northumberland  Household  Book,  where  we 
have  the  following  account:  "And  then  the  Usher 
to  lay  a  Carpett  for  the  Kinge  to  Creepe  to  the 
Crosse  upon.  An  that  done,  there  shal  be  a  Forme 
sett  upon  the  Carpett,  before  the  Crucifix,  and  a 
Cushion  laid  upon  it  for  the  King  to  kneale  upon. 
And  the  Master  of  the  Jewell  Howse  ther  to  be 
ready  with  the  Booke  concerninge  the  Hallowing  of 
the  Crampe  Rings,  and  Amner  (Almoner)  muste 
kneele  on  the  right  hand  of  the  King,  holdinge  the 
sayde  booke.  When  that  is  done  the  King  shall  rise 
and  goe  to  the  Alter,  wheare  a  Gent.  Usher  shall  be 
redie  with  a  Cushion  for  the  Kinge  to  kneele  upon; 
and  then  the  greatest  Lords  that  shall  be  ther  to 
take  the  Bason  with  the  Rings  and  beare  them 
after  the  Kinge  to  offer." 

In  the  Harleian  Manuscripts  there  is  a  letter  from 


ROYAL  TOUCH  247 

Lord  Chancellor  Hatton  to  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  dated 
September  11, 158-,  about  a  prevailing  epidemic,  and 
enclosing  a  ring  for  Queen  Elizabeth  to  wear  be- 
tween her  breasts,  the  said  ring  having  "the  virtue 
to  expell  infectious  airs." 

Andrew  Boorde,  already  quoted,  says:  "The 
Kynges  of  England  doth  halowe  euery  yere  crampe 
rynges,  the  whyche  rynges,  worne  on  ones  fynger, 
dothe  helpe  them  the  whyche  hath  the  crampe."  1 
Also,  "The  kynges  majesty  hath  a  great  help  in  this 
matter,  in  hallowynge  crampe  rynges,  and  so  given 
without  money  or  petition." 

In  the  account  of  the  ceremony  given  by  Hos- 
pinian,  he  states  that  "it  was  performed  upon  Good 
Friday,  and  that  it  originated  from  a  ring  which 
had  been  brought  to  King  Edward  by  some  persons 
from  Jerusalem,  and  one  which  he  himself  hath  long 
before  given  privately  to  a  poor  petitioner  who 
asked  alms  of  him  for  the  love  he  bore  to  St.  John 
the  Evangelist.  This  ring  was  preserved  with  great 
veneration  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  whoever 
was  touched  by  this  relic  was  said  to  be  cured  of  the 
cramp  or  of  the  falling  sickness."  Burnet  informs 
us  that  Bishop  Gardiner  was  at  Rome  in  1529,  and 
that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Ann  Boleyn,  by  which  it 
appears  that  Henry  VIII  blessed  the  cramp  rings 
before  as  well  as  after  the  separation  from  Rome, 
and  that  she  sent  them  as  great  presents  thither. 

*  E,  Berdoe,  The  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  371. 


248  ROYAL  TOUCH 

"Mr.  Stephens,  I  send  you  here  cramp  rings  for  you 
and  Mr.  Gregory  and  Mr.  Peter,  praying  you  to  dis- 
tribute them  as  you  think  best. — ANN  BOLEYN."  * 

This  ceremonial  was  practised  by  previous  sov- 
ereigns and  discontinued  by  Edward  VI.  Queen 
Mary  intended  to  revive  it,  and,  indeed,  the  office 
for  it  was  written  out,  but  she  does  not  appear  to 
have  carried  her  intentions  into  effect. 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  ,  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  117. 


CHAPTER  X 
MESMER  AND  AFTER 

"Some  deemed  them  wondrous  wise, 
And  some  believed  them  mad." — BEATTIE. 

"A  perfect  medicine  for  bodies  that  be  sick 
Of  all  infirmities  to  be  relieved; 
This  heleth  nature  and  prolongeth  lyfe  eke." 

PROBABLY  no  one  would  claim  that  the  phenom- 
ena now  grouped  under  the  head  of  hypnotism  were 
unknown  before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
They  are  as  old  as  man,  yes,  probably  older,  since 
we  know  that  some  of  the  same  phenomena  apply 
to  animals.  But  the  claim  might  well  be  made  that 
while  isolated  facts  of  this  kind  were  well  known, 
especially  in  the  East,  no  scientific  collaboration 
and  explanation  were  attempted  until  this  time. 

As  with  all  other  departments  of  science,  we  may 
trace  a  gradual  development.  Astrology  of  old 
taught  the  influence  of  the  stars  upon  men,  which 
doctrine  was  accepted  by  the  great  physician  The- 
ophrastus  Paracelsus  (1490-1541).  This,  however, 
was  only  part  of  his  belief:  the  human  body  was 
endowed  with  a  double  magnetism;  one  portion 
attracted  to  itself  the  planets  and  was  nourished 
by  them,  the  result  of  which  was  the  mental  powers; 

249 


250  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

the  other  portion  attracted  and  disintegrated  the 
elements,  from  which  process  resulted  the  body. 
He  also  claimed  that  the  magnetic  virtue  of  healthy 
persons  attracted  the  enfeebled  magnetism  of  the 
sick.  With  this  theory  of  animal  magnetism,  it 
was  only  natural  that  he  should  value  the  use  of  the 
magnet  very  highly  in  the  cure  of  diseases.  This 
dual  theory  of  magnetic  cures,  that  of  the  magnetic 
influence  of  men  on  men  and  of  the  magnet  on  man, 
was  prevalent  for  over  a  century,  and  found  its 
latest  exponent  in  Mesmer. 

Following  Paracelsus,  Glocenius,  Burgrave,  Heli- 
notius,  Robert  Fludd,  and  Kircher  believed  that  the 
magnet  represented  the  universal  principle  by  which 
all  natural  phenomena  might  be  explained.  This 
principle,  existing  as  it  did  in  the  human  body,  was 
an  important  factor  in  health  and  disease.  The 
great  chemist  Von  Helmont  (1577-1644)  taught 
more  precisely  that  a  power  resided  in  man  by 
which  he  could  magnetically  affect  others,  and 
thereby  cure  the  sick  who  were  most  influenced  by 
it.  He  published  a  work  on  the  effects  of  magnet- 
ism on  the  human  frame. 

About  the  same  time  Balthazar  Gracian,  a  Span- 
iard, boldly  proclaimed  his  views.  "The  magnet," 
he  said,  "attracts  iron;  iron  is  found  everywhere; 
everything,  therefore,  is  under  the  influence  of  mag- 
netism. ...  It  is  the  same  agent  which  gives  rise  to 
sympathy,  antipathy,  and  the  passions."  Baptista 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  251 

Porta  (1543-1615),  one  of  the  originators  of  the 
weapon-salve,  had  also  great  faith  in  the  magnet. 
So  effective  was  his  work  on  the  imaginations  of 
his  patients  that  he  was  considered  a  magician  and 
prohibited  from  practising  by  the  court  of  Rome. 
Sebastian  Wirdig,  professor  of  medicine  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Rostock,  in  Mecklenburg,  wrote  a  treatise 
on  "The  New  Medicine  of  the  Spirits"  which  he 
presented  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London  in  1673. 
He  maintained  that  a  magnetic  influence  took  place, 
not  only  between  the  celestial  and  terrestrial  bodies, 
but  between  all  living  things.  The  whole  world 
was  under  the  influence  of  magnetism:  life  was  pre- 
served by  magnetism,  death  was  the  consequence 
of  magnetism. 

Maxwell  (1581-1640)  propagated  somewhat  the 
same  doctrine.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  sympa- 
thetic cures,  and  assumed  a  vital  spirit  of  the  uni- 
verse which  related  all  bodies.  It  was  probably 
from  this  that  Mesmer  got  his  idea  of  what  he  called 
the  universal  fluid.  It  would  seem,  however,  that 
Maxwell  was  aware  of  the  great  influence  of  imagi- 
nation and  suggestion.  He  said:  "If  you  wish  to 
work  prodigies,  abstract  from  the  materiality  of 
beings — increase  the  sum  of  spirituality  in  bodies 
— rouse  the  spirit  from  its  slumbers.  Unless  you 
do  one  or  other  of  these  things — unless  you  can 
bind  the  idea,  you  can  never  perform  anything  good 
or  great."  About  the  same  time,  in  Italy,  Santanelli 


252  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

propagated  the  theory  of  a  universal  fluid.  Every- 
thing material  possessed  a  radiating  atmosphere 
which  operated  magnetically.  He  also  recognized, 
however,  the  great  influence  of  the  imagination. 

About  the  year  1771,  Father  Hell,  a  Jesuit,  and 
professor  of  astronomy  at  the  University  of  Vienna, 
became  famous  through  his  magnetic  cures,  and 
invented  steel  plates  of  a  peculiar  form  which  he 
applied  to  the  naked  body  as  a  cure  for  several  dis- 
eases. In  1774  he  communicated  his  system  to 
Mesmer,  the  man  who,  more  than  any  one  else, 
drew  the  world's  attention  to  the  investigation  of 
mental  healing.  Various  estimates  have  been  made 
of  Mesmer's  character  and  he  frequently  has  been 
condemned.  He  was  fond  of  display,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  he  was  more  avaricious  than  most  persons  who 
lived  before  and  have  lived  since.  He  was  evi- 
dently honest  in  his  scientific  investigations  and 
opinions,  and  this  is  our  main  concern. 

Friederich  Antony  Mesmer  (1733-1815)  was  born 
at  Mersbury,  in  Swabia,  and  studied  medicine  at  the 
University  of  Vienna.  He  read  freely  the  books 
written  by  the  authors  already  mentioned,  and 
accepted  much  of  their  teaching.  His  originality 
consisted  principally  in  applying  to  the  sick  this 
universal  principle,  by  means  of  contact  and  passes, 
while  his  predecessors  infused  the  vital  spirit  through 
the  use  of  talismans  and  of  magic  boxes.  He  took 
his  medical  degree  in  1766  and  chose  as  the  subject 


F.    A.    MESMER 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  253 

of  his  inaugural  dissertation  "The  Influence  of  the 
Planets  in  the  Cure  of  Diseases."  In  this  disserta- 
tion he  maintained  "that  the  sun,  moon,  and  fixed 
stars  mutually  affect  each  other  in  their  orbits; 
that  they  cause  and  direct  in  our  earth  a  flux  and 
reflux  not  only  in  the  sea,  but  in  the  atmosphere, 
and  affect  in  a  similar  manner  all  organized  bodies 
through  the  medium  of  a  subtle  and  mobile  fluid, 
which  pervades  the  universe,  and  associates  all 
things  together  in  mutual  intercourse  and  harmo- 
ny." This  influence,  he  said,  was  particularly  ex- 
ercised on  the  nervous  system,  and  produced  two 
states,  which  he  called  intension  and  remission, 
which  seemed  to  him  to  account  for  the  different 
periodical  revolutions  observable  in  several  mala- 
dies. 

Eight  years  later  he  met  Father  Hell,  and  after 
trying  some  experiments  with  his  metallic  plates 
was  astonished  at  his  success.  He  continued  work- 
ing with  Hell  for  some  time,  but  they  finally  quar- 
relled, and  shortly  afterward  he  stumbled  upon  his 
theory  of  animal  magnetism.  After  this  he  no 
longer  used  the  magnet  in  healing.  The  Academy 
of  Science  at  Berlin  examined  his  claims,  but  their 
report  was  far  from  favorable  or  flattering.  Never- 
theless, writing  to  a  friend  from  Vienna,  he  said: 
"I  have  observed  that  the  magnetic  is  almost  the 
same  as  the  electric  fluid,  and  that  it  may  be  propa- 
gated in  the  same  manner,  by  means  of  intermedi- 


254  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

ate  bodies.  Steel  is  not  the  only  substance  adapted 
to  this  purpose.  I  have  rendered  paper,  bread, 
wool,  silk,  stones,  leather,  glass,  wood,  men,  and 
dogs — in  short,  every  thing  I  touched — magnetic 
to  such  a  degree,  that  these  substances  produced 
the  same  effects  as  the  loadstone  on  diseased  per- 
sons. I  have  charged  jars  with  magnetic  matter  in 
the  same  way  as  is  done  with  electricity."  About 
this  time  he  was  nominated  a  member  of  the  Acad- 
emy of  Bavaria. 

Leaving  Vienna  and  travelling  through  Swabia 
and  Switzerland,  he  met  Gassner  and  witnessed 
some  of  his  cures.  Mesmer  claimed  that  they  were 
performed  by  his  newly  discovered  magnetism.  He 
arrived  in  Paris  in  1778  and  found  this  city  more 
receptive  to  his  arts.  He  at  first  established  him- 
self in  an  humble  quarter  of  the  city  and  began  to 
expound  his  theory.  The  following  year  he  pub- 
lished a  paper  in  which  he  summed  up  his  claims  in 
twenty-seven  assertions  to  which  he  rigidly  held 
through  his  life.  His  doctrines  were  well  received, 
and  acquired  an  impetus  at  the  beginning  by  the 
conversion  of  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  the 
faculty  of  medicine,  Deslon,  the  Comte  d'Artois' 
first  physician. 

Pupils  and  patients  now  flocked  to  him.  The 
crowd  was  so  great  that  Mesmer  employed  a  valet 
toucheur  to  magnetize  in  his  place.  This  was  not 
sufficient;  he  then  invented  the  famous  baquet,  or 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  255 

trough,  around  which  thirty  persons  might  simul- 
taneously be  magnetized.  This  baquet  is  described 
as  follows:  "A  circular,  oaken  case,  about  a  foot 
high,  was  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  large  hall,  hung 
with  thick  curtains,  through  which  only  a  soft  and 
subdued  light  was  allowed  to  penetrate;  this  was 
the  baquet.  At  the  bottom  of  the  case,  on  a  layer 
of  powdered  glass  and  iron  filings,  there  lay  full 
bottles,  symmetrically  arranged,  so  that  the  necks 
of  all  converged  toward  the  centre;  other  bottles 
were  arranged  in  the  opposite  direction,  with  their 
necks  toward  the  circumference.  All  these  objects 
were  immersed  in  water,  but  this  condition  was 
not  absolutely  necessary,  and  the  baquet  might  be 
dry.  The  lid  was  pierced  with  a  certain  number 
of  holes,  whence  there  issued  jointed  and  mov- 
ing iron  branches,  which  were  to  be  held  by  the 
patients.  Absolute  silence  was  maintained.  The 
patients  were  ranged  in  several  rows  round  the 
baquet,  connected  with  each  other  by  cords  passed 
round  their  bodies,  and  by  a  second  chain,  formed 
by  joining  hands."  1 

Additional  features  were  provided  to  heighten 
the  effect  of  the  magnetic  charm.  "Richly  stained 
glass  shed  a  dim  religious  light  on  his  spacious 
saloons,  which  were  almost  covered  with  mirrors. 
Orange  blossoms  scented  all  the  air  of  his  corridors; 
incense  of  the  most  expensive  kinds  burned  in  an- 

1  Binet  and  F£r£,  Animal  Magnetism,  p.  8. 


256  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

tique  vases  on  his  chimney-pieces;  seolian  harps 
sighed  melodious  music  from  distant  chambers; 
while  sometimes  a  sweet  female  voice,  from  above 
or  below,  stole  softly  upon  the  mysterious  silence 
that  was  kept  in  the  house  and  insisted  upon  from 
all  visitors."  * 

Bailly,  the  historian  and  celebrated  astronomer, 
an  eye-witness,  describes  the  results.  "Some  pa- 
tients remain  calm  and  experience  nothing;  others 
cough,  spit,  feel  slight  pain,  a  local  or  general  heat, 
and  fall  into  sweats;  others  are  agitated  and  tor- 
mented by  convulsions.  These  convulsions  are 
remarkable  for  their  number,  duration,  and  force, 
and  have  been  known  to  persist  for  more  than  three 
hours.  They  are  characterized  by  involuntary, 
jerking  movements  in  all  the  limbs,  and  in  the  whole 
body,  by  contraction  of  the  throat,  by  twitchings 
in  the  hypochondriac  and  epigastric  regions,  by 
dimness  and  rolling  of  the  eyes,  by  piercing  cries, 
tears,  hiccough,  and  immoderate  laughter.  They 
are  preceded  or  followed  by  a  state  of  languor  or 
dreaminess,  by  a  species  of  depression,  and  even  by 
stupor. 

"The  slightest  sudden  noise  causes  the  patient  to 
start,  and  it  has  been  observed  that  he  is  affected 
by  a  change  of  time  or  tune  in  the  airs  performed 
on  the  pianoforte;  that  his  agitation  is  increased  by 
a  more  lively  movement,  and  that  his  convulsions 

1  C.  Mackay,  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions,  I,  p.  278. 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  257 

then  become  more  violent.  Patients  are  seen  to  be 
absorbed  in  the  search  for  one  another,  rushing  to- 
gether, smiling,  talking  affectionately,  and  endeavor- 
ing to  modify  their  crises.  They  are  all  so  submis- 
sive to  the  magnetizer  that  even  when  they  appear 
to  be  in  a  stupor,  his  voice,  a  glance,  or  a  sign  will 
rouse  them  from  it.  It  is  impossible  not  to  admit, 
from  all  these  results,  that  some  great  force  acts 
upon  and  masters  the  patients,  and  that  this  force 
appears  to  reside  in  the  magnetizer.  This  convul- 
sive state  is  termed  the  crisis.  It  has  been  ob- 
served that  many  women  and  few  men  are  subject 
to  such  crises;  that  they  are  only  established  after 
the  lapse  of  two  or  three  hours,  and  that  when  one 
is  established,  others  soon  and  successively  begin. 

"When  the  agitation  exceeds  certain  limits,  the 
patients  are  transported  into  a  padded  room;  the 
women's  corsets  are  unlaced,  and  they  may  then 
strike  their  heads  against  the  padded  walls  without 
doing  themselves  any  injury."  Notwithstanding 
these  means,  thousands  were  healed  of  their  dis- 
eases. 

"It  is  impossible,"  says  Baron  Dupotet,  "to  con- 
ceive the  sensation  which  Mesmer's  experiments 
created  in  Paris.  No  theological  controversy,  in 
the  earlier  ages  of  the  Catholic  Church,  was  ever 
conducted  with  greater  bitterness."  He  was  called 
a  quack,  a  fool,  and  a  demon,  while  his  friends  were 
as  extravagant  in  his  praise  as  his  foes  in  their 


258  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

censure.  After  this  great  excitement,  his  life  may 
largely  be  summed  up  in  his  challenges  to  different 
societies,  the  appointment  of  commissions,  their  ex- 
aminations, and  their  reports. 

On  the  advice  of  Deslon  he  challenged  the  Faculty 
of  Medicine,  proposing  to  select  twenty-four  pa- 
tients, of  whom  twelve  should  be  treated  according 
to  the  old  and  approved  methods  and  twelve  mag- 
netically, the  cures  to  prove  the  efficacy  of  the  treat- 
ment. The  faculty  declined  to  accept  the  condi- 
tions. Deslon  asked  his  colleagues  on  the  faculty 
to  summon  a  general  meeting  to  examine  the  mat- 
ter. Through  the  influence  of  M.  de  Vauzesmes, 
the  meeting  was  very  hostile  to  him,  and  he  was 
condemned  and  threatened  with  having  his  name 
removed  from  the  list  of  licensed  physicians  if  he 
did  not  reform. 

Mesmer  now  wrote  to  Marie  Antoinette  suggesting 
that  the  government  furnish  him  with  houses,  land, 
and  a  princely  fortune  to  enable  him  to  carry  on  his 
experiments  untroubled.  The  government  finally 
offered  him  a  pension  of  20,000  francs,  and  the 
cross  of  the  order  of  St.  Michael,  if  he  had  made  any 
discovery  in  medicine,  and  would  communicate  it 
to  the  physicians  whom  the  king  should  name. 
Mesmer  refused  the  conditions  and  left  Paris. 

Deslon  was  then  called  upon  to  renounce  animal 
magnetism,  but  instead,  invited  investigation.  In 
1784  the  government  appointed  a  commission  to 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  259 

inquire  into  magnetism,  consisting  of  members  from 
the  Faculty  of  Medicine  and  the  Academy  of 
Sciences.  Franklin,  Lavoisier,  and  Bailly  were 
members,  the  last  named  being  chosen  reporter. 
Another  commission,  composed  of  members  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Medicine,  was  charged  to  make  a 
distinct  report  on  the  same  subject.  After  experi- 
menting for  five  months  the  first  commission  pre- 
sented two  reports,  one  public  and  the  other  secret, 
neither  of  which  was  favorable.  The  Royal  Society 
of  Medicine  presented  its  report  a  few  days  later, 
and  agreed  with  the  first  commission  with  the 
exception  of  one  member,  Laurent  de  Jussieu,  who 
dissented  and  published  a  separate  report  of  a  more 
favorable  nature.  The  gist  of  the  commissions' 
reports  was  that  imagination,  not  magnetism,  ac- 
counted for  the  results. 

Soon  after  the  commissions  started  their  investi- 
gations, Mesmer  returned  to  Paris  at  the  invitation 
of  his  friends,  who  proposed  to  open  a  subscription 
for  him  for  10,000  louis.  Immediately  it  was  over- 
subscribed by  over  140,000  francs.  He  came  with 
the  understanding  that  he  was  to  give  lectures  and 
to  reveal  the  secret  of  animal  magnetism.  The 
lectures  and  secrets  were  not  satisfactory.  After 
the  commission  reported  he  left  Paris  and  returned 
to  his  own  country  where  he  was  little  heard  of 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life  which  ended  in  1815. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  Mesmer,  there  seems  to 


260  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

be  no  doubt  about  the  honesty  of  his  most  famous 
pupil,  the  Marquis  de  Puysegur,  and  to  him  we  are 
indebted  for  a  forward  step.  When  Mesmer  left 
Paris,  the  marquis  retired  to  his  estate  near  Sois- 
sons,  and  employed  his  leisure  in  magnetizing  peas- 
ants. He  magnetized  his  gardener,  a  young  man 
named  Victor,  and  after  experimenting  upon  him 
claimed  that  during  the  state  Victor  exhibited  mar- 
vellous telepathic  and  clairvoyant  phenomena.  Un- 
able to  attend  all  the  patients  who  applied  to  him, 
he  followed  Mesmer's  plan  of  magnetizing  a  tree. 
An  elm  on  the  village  green  was  chosen,  and  round 
this  patients  gathered  on  stone  benches  as  around 
Mesmer's  baquet. 

Following  Mesmer's  theories  very  closely,  the 
contribution  he  made  was  in  the  recognition  of  the 
likeness  between  the  magnetized  state  and  that  of 
somnambulism,  so  that  he  designated  this  state 
"artificial  somnambulism."  He  also  modified  the 
conditions  of  inducing  this  state,  and  simple  con- 
tact or  spoken  orders  were  substituted  for  the  use 
of  the  baquet.  The  effect  was  therefore  milder,  and 
instead  of  hysteria  and  violent  crises  accompanied 
by  sobs,  cries,  and  contractions,  there  was  peaceful 
slumber.  He  recognized  the  rapport  between  opera- 
tor and  subject,  and  amnesia  on  awaking,  and  other 
phenomena  now  well  known,  but  he  still  held  to  the 
Mesmeric  theory  of  the  existence  of  a  universal  fluid 
which  saturated  all  bodies,  especially  the  human 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  261 

body.  It  was  electric  in  nature,  and  man  could  dis- 
play and  diffuse  this  electric  fluid  at  will. 

While  the  Marquis  de  Puyse'gur  was  using  the  elm 
tree  near  Soissons,  the  Chevalier  de  Barbarin  was 
successfully  magnetizing  people  without  parapher- 
nalia. He  sat  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and  prayed 
that  they  might  be  magnetized;  his  efforts  were 
successful.  He  maintained  that  the  effect  of  animal 
magnetism  was  produced  by  the  mere  effort  of  one 
human  soul  acting  upon  another;  and  when  the 
connection  had  once  been  established  the  magne- 
tizer  could  communicate  his  influence  to  the  subject 
regardless  of  the  distance  which  separated  them. 
Numerous  persons  adopted  this  view,  calling  them- 
selves Barbarinists  after  their  leader.  In  Sweden 
and  Germany  they  were  called  spiritualists,  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  followers  of  de  Puysegur, 
who  were  called  experimentalists. 

About  the  same  time  a  doctor  of  Lyons,  Pe"te*tin, 
experimented  with  magnetism.  After  his  death  a 
paper  written  by  him  was  published  describing  cata- 
lepsy and  sense  transference.  Numerous  magnetic 
societies  were  founded  in  the  principal  cities  of 
France.  In  Strasburg,  the  Society  of  Harmony,  con- 
sisting of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  members, 
published  for  years  the  result  of  their  work.  The 
disturbance  incident  to  the  Revolution  and  the  wars 
of  the  Empire  which  followed  repressed  the  investi- 
gations of  magnetism  in  France  for  several  years. 


262  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

In  England  the  advent  of  magnetism  seems  to 
have  taken  place  about  1788.  In  that  year  one  Dr. 
Mainandus,  who  had  been  a  pupil  first  of  Mesmer 
and  later  of  Deslon,  arrived  in  Bristol  and  gave 
public  lectures  on  the  subject.  People  of  rank  and 
fortune  soon  came  from  different  cities  to  be  mag- 
netized or  to  place  themselves  under  his  tuition. 
He  afterward  established  himself  in  London  where 
he  was  equally  successful  in  attracting  and  curing 
people.  So  much  curiosity  was  excited  by  the  sub- 
ject that,  about  the  same  time,  a  man  named  Hollo- 
way  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  animal  magnetism 
in  London.  Large  crowds  gathered  to  hear  him  at 
the  rate  of  five  guineas  for  each  pupil. 

Loutherbourg,  the  painter,  and  his  wife  entered 
upon  a  similar  work.  "Such  was  the  infatuation 
of  the  people  to  be  witnesses  of  their  strange  manipu- 
lations," says  Mackay,  "that  at  times  upwards  of 
three  thousand  persons  crowded  round  their  house 
at  Hammersmith,  unable  to  gain  admission.  The 
tickets  sold  at  prices  ranging  from  one  to  three 
guineas."  Loutherbourg  later  became  a  divine 
healer.  From  1789  to  1798  magnetism  attracted 
little  or  no  attention  in  England.  At  the  latter 
date  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  Benjamin  Douglas  Per- 
kins, invented  "metallic  tractors."  The  Society  of 
Friends  built  a  hospital  called  the  "Perkinean  In- 
stitute" where  all  comers  might  be  magnetized  free 
of  cost. 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  263 

About  1786  animal  magnetism  appeared  in  two 
different  places  in  Germany — on  the  upper  Rhine 
and  in  Bremen.  At  this  time  Lavater  paid  a  visit 
to  Bremen  and  exhibited  the  magnetizing  process 
to  several  doctors.  Bremen  was  for  a  long  time  a 
focus  of  the  new  doctrine,  and  thereby  was  brought 
into  bad  repute.  About  the  same  time  the  doctrine 
spread  from  Strasburg  over  the  Rhine  provinces. 
Among  those  active  in  experiments  were  Bockmann 
of  Carlsruhe,  Gmelin  of  Heilbronn,  and  Pezold  of 
Dresden.  Soon  it  spread  all  over  Germany.  In 
1789  Selle  of  Berlin  brought  forward  a  series  of 
experiments  made  at  the  Charite"  (Hospital),  hi 
which  he  confirmed  some  of  the  alleged  phenomena 
but  excluded  the  supernormal. 

Notwithstanding  the  early  dislike,  animal  magne- 
tism flourished  in  Germany  during  the  first  twenty 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1812  the  Prus- 
sian government  sent  Wolfart  to  Mesmer  at  Frauen- 
feld,  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  subject.  He  re- 
turned to  Berlin  an  ardent  adherent  of  Mesmer  and 
introduced  magnetism  into  the  hospital  treatment. 
From  this  magnetism  flourished  so  much  in  Berlin 
that,  as  Wurm  relates,  the  Berlin  physicians  placed 
a  monument  on  the  grave  of  Mesmer  at  Morsburg, 
and  theological  candidates  received  instruction  in 
physiology,  pathology,  and  the  treatment  of  sick- 
ness by  vital  magnetism.  The  well-known  physi- 
cian Koreff  was  interested  in  magnetism  and  often 


264  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

made  use  of  it  for  healing  purposes.  Magnetism 
was  introduced  everywhere,  especially  in  Russia  and 
Denmark.  In  Switzerland  and  Italy  it  was  at  first 
received  with  less  sympathy,  and  in  1815  the  exer- 
cise of  magnetism  was  forbidden  in  the  whole  of 
Austria. 

In  1813  the  naturalist  Deleuze  published  a  book 
entitled  Histoire  critique  du  magnetisme  animal. 
Like  his  predecessors,  he  was  chiefly  interested  in 
the  therapeutic  value  of  magnetism,  and  insisted 
that  faith  was  necessary  for  effective  treatment. 
On  account  of  this  condition  any  demonstration 
was  impossible.  He  still  held  to  the  idea  of  a  per- 
vading fluid  and  maintained  that  the  depth  of  the 
magnetic  sleep  depended  upon  the  amount  of  the 
magnetic  charge.  Shortly  after  the  appearance  of 
Deleuze 's  book,  interest  in  animal  magnetism  in- 
creased, and  several  journals  dealing  exclusively 
with  the  subject  were  started. 

With  the  death  of  Mesmer  in  1815  ended  the  first 
period  in  the  history  of  the  phenomena  known  as 
animal  magnetism.  Up  to  this  time  the  generally 
accepted  theory  was  that  of  a  vital  fluid  which  per- 
meated every  thing  and  person  and  through  which 
one  person  influenced  another.  The  second  period 
extended  from  1815-1841  when  Braid  discovered 
and  formulated  the  method  of  operation.  The 
third  period  reached  from  1841-1887  during  which 
there  was  careful  and  scientific  study  of  the  whole 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  265 

subject,  and  hypnotism  came  into  repute  as  a  heal- 
ing measure.  I  am  inclined  to  posit  a  fourth  period, 
1887  to  the  present  time,  for  Myers'  hypothesis  of 
a  subliminal  self,  or  the  theory  of  the  subconscious- 
ness,  has  made  a  great  difference  in  the  theory  of 
hypnotism. 

The  second  period  began  when  Abbe  Faria  in 
1814-15  came  from  India  to  Paris  and  gave  public 
exhibitions,  publishing  the  results  of  some  of  his 
experiments.  He  seated  his  subjects  in  an  arm- 
chair, with  eyes  closed,  and  then  cried  out  in  a 
loud  commanding  voice,  "Sleep."  He  used  no  ma- 
nipulations and  had  no  baquet,  but  he  boasted  of 
having  produced  five  thousand  somnambulists  by 
this  method.  He  opined  that  the  state  was  caused 
by  no  unknown  force,  but  rested  in  the  subject 
himself.  He  agreed  with  the  present  generally 
accepted  theory  that  all  is  subjective. 

Following  Faria,  Bertrand  and  Noizet  paved  the 
way  for  the  doctrine  of  suggestion  notwithstanding 
their  inclination  toward  animal  magnetism.  Ex- 
periments were  performed  at  the  Hotel-Dieu  in 
1820  but  later  were  prohibited.  Through  the  in- 
fluence of  Foissac  in  1826  the  Academy  of  Medicine 
appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the  subject,  and 
in  1831  a  report  acknowledging  the  genuineness  of 
the  phenomena  was  made,  and  therapeutic  effects 
were  frankly  admitted.  In  1837  the  Academy 
appointed  another  commission  to  examine  still 


266  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

further,  for  the  members  as  a  whole  were  not  con- 
vinced. The  report  of  this  commission  was  largely 
negative. 

After  this  the  younger  Burdin,  a  member  of  the 
Academy,  proposed  to  award  from  his  own  purse  a 
prize  of  3,000  francs  to  any  person  who  could  read 
a  given  writing  without  the  aid  of  his  eyes,  and  in 
the  dark.  The  existence  of  animal  magnetism  must 
stand  or  fall  on  this  test.  That  was  the  difficulty 
during  this  period:  the  whole  dispute  was  waged 
about,  and  experiments  consisted  in  tests  of,  clair- 
voyance, transposition  of  the  sense  of  sight,  and 
other  mystical  phenomena,  instead  of  dealing  with 
the  state  as  such.  This,  of  course,  made  the  strug- 
gle much  easier  for  the  opponents  of  mesmerism, 
but  was  largely  the  fault  of  the  magnetizers.  The 
Burdin  prize  was  not  awarded,  and  in  1840  Double 
proposed  that  the  Academy  should  henceforth  pay 
no  further  attention  to  animal  magnetism,  but 
treat  the  subject  as  definitely  closed.  This  was 
certainly  unfair  and  unscientific,  but  was  the  atti- 
tude assumed. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period  another  series  of 
tests  was  being  performed  in  Germany,  but  after 
1820  the  belief  in  magnetism  declined  more  and 
more.  It  flourished  longest  in  Bremen  and  in 
Hamburg  where  Siemers  was  its  advocate.  From 
1830-1840  Hensler  and  Ennemoser  were  the  chief 
exponents  in  Bavaria.  As  the  scientific  investiga- 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  267 

tors  withdrew  from  the  study,  the  charlatans  and 
frauds  entered  the  field,  and  the  marvellous  and 
occult  were  emphasized,  so  that  in  1840  little  general 
attention  was  paid  to  the  subject. 

Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  London  physi- 
cians Elliotson  and  Ashburner,  magnetism  could 
obtain  little  footing  in  England  during  this  period. 
Numerous  investigations  were  made,  however,  and 
several  publications  were  sent  forth.  Townshend, 
Scoresby,  and  Lee  are  names  prominent  in  the 
study  of  the  subject  in  England  at  this  time.  In 
the  next  period,  though,  an  Englishman  gives  the 
impetus  necessary  for  the  successful  pursuit  of  the 
study. 

In  1841  the  French  magnetizer,  La  Fontaine,  gave 
some  public  exhibitions  in  Manchester  which  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  a  physician  by  the  name  of 
James  Braid.  Through  the  aid  rendered  by  Braid, 
animal  magnetism  blossomed  into  a  science.  He 
directed  the  subject  into  its  proper  field :  he  eschewed 
the  occult  and  mysterious,  and  emphasized  obser- 
vation and  experiment.  It  was  Braid  who  gave  us 
the  word  "hypnotism."  At  first  a  sceptic,  he  be- 
gan experimenting  and  proved  that  fixity  of  gaze 
had  in  some  way  such  an  influence  on  the  nervous 
system  of  the  subject  that  he  went  off  into  a  sleep. 
He  therefore  opined  that  the  transmission  of  a  fluid 
by  the  operator  had  no  part  in  the  matter. 

He   further   showed   that   an   assumed  attitude 


268  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

changed  the  subject's  sentiments  in  harmony  with 
the  attitude,  and  that  the  degree  of  sleep  varied 
with  different  persons,  and  with  the  same  person  at 
different  times.  He  also  noted  the  acuteness  of  the 
senses  during  hypnosis,  and  that  verbal  suggestion 
would  produce  hallucinations,  emotions,  paralysis, 
etc.  Therapeutics  was  a  subject  in  which  he  was 
naturally  interested,  and  his  experiments  on  differ- 
ent diseases  were  frequent  and  valuable.  Braid 
made  some  mistakes,  as  was  natural,  but  his  dis- 
coveries covered  the  field  so  well  and  his  ideas  were 
so  sound  that  too  much  credit  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  him.  At  first  he  thought  hypnotism  (Braidism) 
was  identical  with  animal  magnetism,  but  later  made 
the  mistake  of  considering  it  analogous,  and  the  two 
flourished  side  by  side  and  independently. 

Animal  magnetism  was  first  introduced  into 
America  in  1836  by  Mr.  Charles  Poyan,  a  French 
gentleman.  A  few  years  later  a  certain  Dr.  Collyer 
lectured  upon  it  in  New  England.  New  Orleans 
was,  however,  for  a  long  time  its  chief  centre.  In 
1848  Grimes,  working  independently,  appears  to 
have  arrived  at  about  the  same  conclusions  as 
Braid.  He  showed  that  most  of  the  hypnotic  phe- 
nomena could  be  produced  in  the  waking  state  in 
some  subjects,  by  means  of  verbal  suggestion.  The 
phenomena  were  known  under  the  name  of  electro- 
biology.  In  1850  Darling  went  to  England  and 
introduced  electro-biology,  but  it  was  soon  identified 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  269 

with  Braidism,  and  in  1853  Durand  de  Gros,  who 
wrote  under  the  pseudonym  of  Philips,  exhibited 
the  phenomena  of  electro-biology  in  several  coun- 
tries, but  aroused  little  attention. 

Azam  of  Bordeaux  and  Broca  of  Paris  made  some 
experiments  following  Braid's  method,  and  several 
times  performed  some  painless  operations  by  this 
means.  They  were  followed  by  numerous  others 
in  all  European  countries  and  in  America.  In  fact, 
the  interest  in  the  subject  became  general,  and  as 
more  was  known  about  it,  fewer  objections  were 
heard.  Societies  were  formed  for  the  study  of  hyp- 
notism, publications  were  started  devoting  all  their 
space  to  the  exposition  and  discussion  of  it,  and  as 
this  third  period  advanced,  its  scientific  value  was 
more  and  more  recognized  from  the  stand-points  of 
psychology,  pathology,  and  therapeutics. 

In  a  brief  resume  like  this  it  would  be  impossible 
to  name  even  the  chief  experimenters  in  the  differ- 
ent countries  who  contributed  to  this  period,  but 
some  names  stand  out  so  prominently  that  they 
should  be  emphasized,  for  they  must  be  reckoned 
in  importance  with  Braid's.  Liebeault,  whose  book, 
Du  Sommeil,  etc.,  was  published  in  1866,  has  been 
called  the  founder  of  the  therapeutics  of  suggestion. 
While  suggestion  in  both  waking  and  hypnotic  states 
had  been  applied  long  before  Liebeault's  day,  it  was 
he  who  first  fully  and  methodically  recognized  its 
value.  We  are  also  indebted  to  him  for  stimulating 


270  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

in  the  study  of  hypnosis  Bernheim  and  other  promi- 
nent investigators.  Liebeault  at  the  head  of  the 
School  of  Nancy  was  not  less  known  than  Charcot 
at  the  Salpetriere. 

Charcot  was  indefatigable  in  his  researches,  but 
was  led  away  in  his  conclusions  by  artifacts.  For 
example:  three  states  were  produced  in  the  hyp- 
notic subject  which  Charcot  considered  to  be  symp- 
tomatic and  characteristic.  They  were  catalepsy, 
lethargy,  and  somnambulism.  Certain  physical 
excitations,  such  as  rubbing  the  scalp  or  exposing 
the  eyes  to  a  bright  light,  were  thought  to  be  all 
that  was  necessary  to  change  the  subject  from  one 
stage  to  another.  It  has  since  been  shown  that  not 
only  were  the  states  of  catalepsy,  lethargy,  and 
somnambulism  produced  by  suggestion,  but  the 
physical  stimuli  were  simply  suggestions  and  signs 
by  which  the  subject  knew  that  a  particular  change 
was  expected,  and,  in  harmony  with  hypnotic  ac- 
tion, the  expected  change  came  about.  Not  only 
did  Charcot  make  this  mistake,  but  some  of  his 
followers  of  the  Salpetriere  School  continued  to 
be  deceived  for  years  afterward. 

Hardly  a  conclusion  of  Charcot's  remains  to-day, 
and  yet  so  earnest  was  he  in  his  investigations  and 
so  untiring  in  his  experiments,  that  many  of  his 
facts  contributed  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
subject  even  if  his  theories  have  been  rejected. 
Binet,  Fere,  and  other  followers  of  his  have  contrib- 


MESMER  AND  AFTER  271 

uted  much  to  the  science  and  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  latter  half  of  this  period  is  not  unknown 
to  us  to-day,  and  as  the  names  connected  with  it 
are  familiar,  it  remains  for  me  to  mention  but  one 
more  name,  that  of  the  one  who  ushered  in  the 
fourth  period,  F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

From  its  beginning  Myers  was  prominently  con- 
nected with  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research  and 
occupied  the  offices  of  president  and  secretary. 
He  held  the  latter  position  at  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1901.  In  1887  he  formulated  his  theory  of  the 
subliminal  self  or  subliminal  consciousness,  a  theory 
which  has  come  to  be  more  and  more  accepted,  and 
the  value  of  which  has  received  increasing  appre- 
ciation. It  has  been  known  as  the  "subconscious 
self"  or  the  "subconsciousness"  probably  more 
than  by  Myers's  original  title,  and  his  theory  has 
been  modified  by  some  subtractions  and  additions, 
but  it  is  generally  accepted  to-day  and  its  exposi- 
tion has  helped  solve  many  problems  in  abnormal 
psychology.  In  no  department  has  it  contributed 
more  than  in  that  of  hypnotism,  for  by  it  this  state 
has  been  partially  explained. 

For  a  number  of  years  Charcot  and  his  followers 
put  forward  a  physiological  theory  of  hypnotism 
which  waged  war  with  that  of  the  Nancy  School, 
under  Liebeault,  but  even  before  Charcot 's  death 
he  recognized  the  validity  of  the  Nancy  claims  while 
still  clinging  to  his  own.  Few  if  any  espouse  Char- 


272  MESMER  AND  AFTER 

cot's  claims  to-day.  The  general  psychological 
theory  of  Nancy,  which  bases  the  results  on  sugges- 
tion, is  that  currently  accepted,  while  a  theory  not 
very  different  from  that  of  animal  magnetism  has 
been  held  by  some  of  those  who  accepted  the 
spiritualistic  hypothesis,  notably  among  whom  was 
Myers. 

Hypnotism  to-day  is  recognized  as  the  product 
of  a  long  line  of  erroneous  theory  and  zigzag  develop- 
ment, but  the  wheat  has  largely  been  sifted  and 
the  chaff  thrown  to  the  winds  of  antiquity.  Its 
therapeutic  and  psychological  value  is  duly  recog- 
nized by  science  to-day.1 

1  Many  works  and  encyclopedic  articles  on  hypnotism  have  been 
consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter,  all  of  which  were  valu- 
able, and  few  of  which  stand  out  prominently. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

"Medical  cannot  be  separated  from  moral  science,  without  recip- 
rocal and  essential  mutilation." — REID. 

"Man  is  a  dupeable  animal.  Quacks  in  medicine,  quacks  in  re- 
ligion, and  quacks  in  politics  know  this,  and  act  upon  that  knowl- 
edge. There  is  scarcely  anyone  who  may  not,  like  a  trout,  be  taken 
by  tickling." — SOUTHEY. 

"Canst  thou  minister  to  a  mind  diseas'd, 
Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow, 
Raze  out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain, 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  stuff'd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart?" — SHAKESPEARE. 

"Joy,  temperance,  and  repose, 
Slam  the  door  on  the  doctor's  nose." — LONGFELLOW. 

THERE  seems  to  have  been  a  great  development 
of  mental  healing  during  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  healing  by  shrines,  relics,  and  charms  dimin- 
ished in  the  latter  part  of  the  century  on  account  of 
the  lessening  of  superstition  and  the  better  under- 
standing of  mental  laws,  but  additional  work  has 
thereby  been  laid  upon  the  healers.  The  develop- 
ment of  hypnotism  and  the  exposition  of  the  laws 
underlying  it,  the  collection  and  publication  of  cases 
of  cures  by  mental  means,  the  lessening  of  faith  in 
noxious  doses  of  drugs,  the  increase  of  nervous  dis- 
eases which  are  most  easily  helped  by  suggestive 

273 


274     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

therapeutics,  the  attempted  duplication  of  apos- 
tolic gifts  on  the  part  of  some  sects  and  the  general 
reaction  against  the  materialism  of  the  early  part 
of  the  century  as  shown  in  the  great  revival  of  psy- 
chical study  and  research  have  all  been  factors  in 
the  demand  for  mental  medicine. 

The  healers  have  been  of  various  kinds.  Having 
already  dealt  with  the  mesmerizers  and  hypnotizers, 
we  shall  now  look  only  at  the  classes  of  independent 
and  generally  less  scientific  investigators  and  experi- 
menters. Some  have  not  been  regular  healers  but 
healed  only  incidentally,  as,  e.  g.}  the  revivalists; 
some  have  followed  James  5  : 14  f.  in  anointing  with 
oil  and  praying — of  these  and  others,  some  have 
had  institutions  for  housing  the  patients;  some 
have  been  peripatetic  healers;  some  have  simply 
used  prayer;  some  have  established  their  systems  on 
metaphysical  bases  and  been  the  founders  of  sects; 
some  have  combined  the  results  of  scientific  investi- 
gations in  an  endeavor  to  help  mankind.  Many 
of  these  have  simply  followed  the  ways  of  their 
predecessors  of  former  centuries,  but  a  few  started 
on  new  lines  of  procedure.  Whatever  the  method, 
they  have  all,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  depended 
upon  the  influence  of  the  patient's  mind  over  his 
own  body,  and  the  now  better  understood  laws  of 
suggestion. 

The  revivals  were  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  cen- 
tury phenomena,  and  in  discussing  the  part  which 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     275 

their  leaders  have  taken  in  healing  we  may  well 
include  the  experience  of  Wesley.  As  a  mere  inci- 
dent in  his  revival  work,  John  Wesley  (1703-1791), 
the  great  founder  of  Methodism,  appeared  in  the 
rather  unenviable  role  of  exorcist.  It  is  to  his 
credit  that  he  was  not  led  away  from  his  primary 
purpose  by  this  experience,  but  returned  to  his 
preaching  without  any  effort  to  add  healing  to  his 
gifts.  The  account  of  his  encounter  with  the  de- 
mons can  best  be  given  by  quoting  his  own  words, 
as  found  in  his  Journal. 

"  October  25  [1739].  I  was  sent  for  to  one  in 
Bristol  who  was  taken  ill  the  evening  before.  She 
lay  on  the  ground  furiously  gnashing  her  teeth  and 
after  a  while  roared  aloud.  It  was  not  easy  for 
three  or  four  persons  to  hold  her,  especially  when 
the  name  of  Jesus  was  named.  We  prayed.  The 
violence  of  her  symptoms  ceased,  though  without  a 
complete  deliverance."  Wesley  was  sent  for  later  in 
the  day.  "She  began  screaming  before  I  came  into 
the  room,  then  broke  out  into  a  horrid  laughter, 
mixed  with  blasphemy,  grievous  to  hear.  One  who 
from  many  circumstances  apprehended  a  preter- 
natural agent  to  be  concerned  in  this,  asking,  'How 
didst  thou  dare  to  enter  into  a  Christian?'  was 
answered,  'She  is  not  a  Christian,  she  is  mine.' 
Then  another  question,  'Dost  thou  not  tremble  at 
the  name  of  Jesus?'  No  words  followed,  but  she 
shrunk  back  and  trembled  exceedingly.  'Art  thou 


276     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

not  increasing  thy  own  damnation?'  It  was  faintly 
answered,  'Ay!  Ay!'  which  was  followed  by  fresh 
cursing  and  blasphemy  .  .  .  with  spitting,  and  all 
the  expressions  of  strong  aversion."  Two  days 
later  Wesley  called  and  prayed  with  her  again, 
when  "All  her  pangs  ceased  in  a  moment,  she  was 
filled  with  peace,  and  knew  that  the  son  of  wicked- 
ness was  departed  from  her."  On  October  28  he 
exorcised  two  more  demons  whom  he  had  evidently 
(unconsciously)  been  the  means  of  producing  in  two 
neurotic  girls.  He  had  a  few  other  experiences  in 
healing,  but  always  in  an  incidental  way. 

Charles  G.  Finney  (1792-1875)  had  at  least  one 
experience  as  a  healer.  During  revival  services  at 
Antwerp,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  two  insane  women  were 
cured,  but  Finney  was  directly  concerned  in  the 
restoration  of  only  one  of  them.  Of  this  he  gives 
an  account  in  his  memoirs.  "There  were  two  very 
striking  cases  of  instantaneous  recovery  from  in- 
sanity during  this  revival.  As  I  went  into  meeting 
in  the  afternoon  of  one  Sabbath,  I  saw  several  ladies 
sitting  in  a  pew,  with  a  woman  dressed  in  black  who 
seemed  to  be  in  great  distress  of  mind;  and  they 
were  partly  holding  her,  and  preventing  her  from 
going  out.  As  I  came  in,  one  of  the  ladies  came  to 
me  and  told  me  she  was  an  insane  woman.  ...  I 
said  a  few  words  to  her;  but  she  replied  that  she 
must  go;  that  she  could  not  hear  any  praying,  or 
preaching,  or  singing;  that  hell  was  her  portion, 


JOHN   ALEXANDER  BOWIE 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  277 

and  she  could  not  endure  anything  that  made  her 
think  of  heaven.  I  cautioned  the  ladies,  privately, 
to  keep  her  in  her  seat,  if  they  could,  without  her 
disturbing  the  meeting.  I  then  went  into  the  pul- 
pit and  read  a  hymn.  As  soon  as  the  singing  began, 
she  struggled  hard  to  get  out.  But  the  ladies  ob- 
structed her  passage;  and  kindly  but  persistently 
prevented  her  escape.  ...  As  I  proceeded  ...  all 
at  once  she  startled  the  congregation  by  uttering  a 
loud  shriek.  She  then  cast  herself  almost  from  her 
seat,  held  her  head  very  low,  and  I  could  see  that 
she  'trembled  very  exceedingly.'  ...  As  I  pro- 
ceeded she  began  to  look  up  again,  and  soon  sat 
upright,  with  face  wonderfully  changed,  indicating 
triumphant  joy  and  peace.  .  .  .  She  glorified  God 
and  rejoiced  with  amazing  triumph.  About  two 
years  after,  I  met  with  her,  and  found  her  still  full 
of  joy  and  peace."  l 

The  so-called  " Mountain  Evangelist,"  George  0. 
Barnes,  who  was  born  in  1827,  added  healing  to  his 
other  revival  efforts.  After  leaving  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  he  did  his  work  mostly  in  Kentucky  as 
an  independent  minister,  and  there  anointed  with 
oil  according  to  James  5  : 14  f.  In  his  records  little 
is  said  about  the  cures,  but  the  daily  number  of 
anointings  is  given,  amounting  to  at  least  five 
thousand  in  all.  He  believed  that  the  devil,  not 
God,  sends  sickness:  God  is  the  great  healer.  The 

1 C.  G.  Finney,  Memoirs,  pp.  108  f. 


278     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

anointing  was  simply  a  matter  of  faith.  His  for- 
mula varied  and  was  very  simple,  as  e.  g.,  "Dear 
daughter,  in  Jesus's  precious  name  I  anoint  thee 
with  this  oil  of  healing  for  thy  maladies.  Oh,  go 
on  thy  way  rejoicing.  Be  of  good  cheer.  He  is 
the  great  healer.  He  will  make  thee  whole.  He 
hath  commanded  it.  Lean  thy  whole  weight  on 
Him."  His  views  may  be  judged  by  the  following 
extract  from  a  sermon  of  his  on  "Our  Healer": 
"Oh,  the  hospitals  and  drug-stores,  the  bitter  doses, 
the  pains  and  racks,  the  tortures — great  God,  may 
this  people  believe  to-day  that  thou  hast  nothing  to 
do  with  this,  that  that  all  came  in  with  sin,  and  the 
devil  manages  it  all;  and  wherever  we  are  afflicted 
God  stands  by  wringing  His  hands,  and  saying, 
'.  .  .  Return  to  me,  0  backsliding  children.  Come 
back  to  me,  and  I  will  keep  the  devil  off  of  you.' ' 
I  take  also  some  extracts  from  his  daily  record. 

"July  19  [1881].  John  and  I  took  a  long  walk. 
...  I  shall  not  repeat  the  experiment,  for  I  got 
many  chiggers  on  me,  which  are  tormenting  me 
from  head  to  foot  while  I  write,  I  think  because  I 
trusted  the  pennyroyal  to  keep  them  off  me  in- 
stead of  the  Lord.  It  was  not  wilful,  but  a  slip  of 
forgetfulness,  yet  a  door  wide  enough  for  Satan  to 
enter  a  little  bit.  Now,  instead  of  trying  penny- 
royal to  get  me  rid  of  them,  I  will  trust  the  Lord 
only. 

1  W.  T.  Price,  Without  Scrip  or  Purse,  or  the  "  Mountain  Evange- 
list," George  O.  Barnes,  p.  451. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  610. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     279 

"July  20.  The  chiggers  gave  exquisite  torment. 
I  shall  never  trust  in  pennyroyal  again. 

"July  21.  Satan  tried  to  get  me  wavering  on  the 
eye  question,  but  the  dear  Lord  set  me  up  more 
firmly  than  ever. 

"July  24.  We  have  gotten  into  a  little  trouble 
by  carelessly  trying  to  help  the  dear  Lord  take  care 
of  his  little  organ.  A  key  was  silent,  and  yesterday 
Marie  tried  to  remedy  it.  There  was  a  good  deal  of 
taking  out  of  keys,  and  dusting — result,  two  keys 
silent  now,  and  one  that  won't  be  silent,  but  goes 
on  in  a  bass  wail  through  every  song.  So  much  for 
meddling  with  the  dear  Lord's  work.  We  trust  Him, 
when  the  lesson  is  learned,  to  set  the  little  machine 
all  right  again.  .  .  .  The  dear  Lord  cured  the  little 
organ  this  afternoon  while  we  were  at  dinner;  at 
least  it  was  all  right,  as  Marie  with  a  happy  smile 
informed  me  before  she  began  to  sing  the  first  song. 
I  gave  thanks  for  it  in  the  opening  prayer,  and  then 
told  the  people  all  about  it. 

"July  27.  Satan  is  not  a  little  busy  with  me, 
injecting  doubts  as  to  the  right  to  trust  for  eyes. 
Faith  still  quenches  all  his  fiery  darts,  although  it 
sorely  tries  me  to  be  thus  inactive  in  these  long 
summer  days,  without  reading  my  beautiful  edition 
of  Young's  Concordance,  useless  at  the  bottom  of 
my  trunk.  My  Revised  New  Testament  I  can  only 
get  at  through  others."  * 

Leaving  now  the  revivalists,  let  us  take  up  the 
cases  of  others  not  revivalists  who  used  anointing 
for  healing.  In  her  native  hamlet  of  Maennedorf , 
Switzerland,  Dorothea  Trudel  (1813-1862),  the  de- 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  301  ff. 


280     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

scendant  of  some  generations  of  faith  healers,  cured 
many.  Soon  people  began  to  come  to  her  from 
near  and  far  and,  finally,  at  the  solicitation  of  a 
" patient"  of  rank,  she  purchased  a  home  where 
the  afflicted  could  be  near  her.  In  1856  the  health 
authorities  interfered.  She  was  fined;  an  appeal 
was  taken  and,  finally,  she  was  permitted  to  carry 
on  her  work  in  connection  with  the  home  under 
some  formal  restrictions.  During  the  course  of  the 
trial  some  authenticated  cases  of  cure  were  pro- 
duced: "one  stiff  knee,  pronounced  incurable  by 
the  best  surgeons  of  France,  Germany,  and  Switzer- 
land; a  leading  physician  testified  to  the  recovery 
of  a  hopeless  patient  of  his  own;  a  burned  foot, 
which  was  about  to  be  amputated  to  prevent  im- 
pending death,  was  healed  without  means.  The 
evidence  was  incontrovertible,  and  the  cases  numer- 
ous. The  cure  was  often  contemporaneous  with 
the  confession  of  Christ  by  the  unbelieving  patient; 
but  duration  of  the  sickness  varied  with  each  case. 
Lunatics  were  commonly  sent  forth  cured  in  a  brief 
while."  Nothing  miraculous  was  claimed  and  no 
war  was  waged  against  physicians.  It  was  not 
asserted  that  a  cure  was  infallibly  made,  but  it  was 
pointed  out  as  a  simpler  and  more  direct  method. 
The  means  employed  were  gentleness,  discipline, 
Bible  reading,  prayer,  and  anointing.  After  the 
death  of  Dorothea  the  home  continued  under  the 
supervision  of  Mr.  Samuel  Zeller. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     281 

Charles  Cullis  (1833-1892),  a  young  physician  of 
Boston,  suffered  a  crushing  bereavement  in  the 
death  of  his  wife  shortly  after  their  marriage,  and 
then  vowed  to  devote  his  life  to  charity.  Inspired 
by  Miiller's  Life  of  Trust  he  established  a  number  of 
charitable  institutions,  relying  on  prayer  and  faith 
for  their  support.  Some  of  these  institutions  were 
for  the  cure  of  the  sick,  and  in  connection  with 
these,  and  otherwise,  Dr.  Cullis  anointed  and  prayed 
with  all  who  came  to  him.  Every  summer  a  camp- 
meeting  was  held  at  Old  Orchard  Beach,  Maine, 
where  the  large  collections  gathered  were  the  sub- 
ject of  annual  comment.  He  was  followed  in  his 
work  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Simpson,  of  New  York,  who 
now  conducts  it.  The  latter  was  formerly  a  Pres- 
byterian minister  but  is  now  an  independent.  He 
still  heals  and  takes  up  collections.  From  the 
efforts  of  Cullis  and  Simpson  have  come  the  Chris- 
tian and  Missionary  Alliance  and  other  similar  or- 
ganizations with  Pentecost  as  the  text  and  apos- 
tolic gifts  as  the  much-sought-after  prize.  The 
proof  of  success  is  found  in  healing,  speaking  with 
tongues,  trances,  visions,  and  other  abnormal  phe- 
nomena. 

The  "Holy  Ghost  and  Us"  movement,  with  head- 
quarters at  Shiloh,  Maine,  was  an  outgrowth  of  the 
Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  propaganda.  Rev. 
F.  W.  Sanford  (1863-  )  was  born  on  Bowdoin- 
ham  Ridge,  Maine.  He  graduated  at  Bates  Col- 


282     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

lege  in  1886  and  attended  Cobb  Divinity  School  for 
a  short  time.  His  ordination  took  place  in  1887, 
after  which  he  held  two  pastorates  of  three  years 
each,  presumedly  in  Free  Baptist  churches.  In 
1891,  while  attending  meetings  at  Old  Orchard,  he 
was  inspired  to  start  "a  movement  on  strictly  apos- 
tolic lines,  which  was  to  sweep  the  entire  globe." 
He  started  on  this  new  work  early  in  1893  with 
Shiloh,  Maine,  as  the  centre.  Relying  on  faith 
alone,  several  buildings  were  erected  and  paid  for, 
among  which  is  Bethesda — a  Home  of  Healing: 
"For  those  who  believe  God  told  the  truth  when  He 
said,  'The  prayer  of  Faith  shall  save  the  sick.' '  In 
an  account  of  the  healing  we  read:  "We  have  seen 
...  in  at  least  one  case,  the  restoration  of  the  dead 
to  life."  Quite  a  following  embraced  the  doctrine 
at  one  time,  but  lately  there  has  been  a  consider- 
able decline. 

An  institution  for  faith  healing  was  established 
in  the  north  of  London  by  Rev.  W.  E.  Boardman 
(1810-1886).  He  called  it  "Bethshan"  or  the 
"Nursery  of  Faith"  and  refused  to  permit  it  to  be 
called  a  hospital.  The  usual  method  of  treatment 
was  by  anointing  with  oil  and  prayer,  but  it  was 
claimed  that  many  also  were  healed  by  correspond- 
ence. The  results  professed  were  very  extravagant, 
among  the  cases  being  cancer,  paralysis,  advanced 
consumption,  chronic  rheumatism,  and  lameness  of 
different  kinds.  As  a  proof  of  the  cure  of  the  last 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY    283 

named  affliction,  numerous  canes  and  crutches  left 
behind  by  the  healed  were  on  exhibition.1 

It  is  said  that  Lord  Radstock  practised  healing 
through  anointing  in  Australia  about  the  same 
time. 

There  have  been  a  number  of  prominent  healers 
who  have  used  prayer,  and  perhaps  the  laying  on  of 
hands,  as  the  means  for  healing,  and  have  usually 
eschewed  anointing.  Among  these  was  Prince 
Hohenlohe  (1794-1849).  His  was  probably  the 
greatest  name  in  mental  healing  in  the  nineteenth 
century.  He  was  born  in  Waldenburg  and  edu- 
cated at  several  institutions.  He  was  ordained 
priest  in  1815  and  officiated  at  Olmiitz,  Munich, 
and  other  places.  In  1820  he  met  a  peasant,  Mar- 
tin Michel,  who  had  performed  some  wonderful 
cures,  and  in  connection  with  him  effected  a  so-called 
miraculous  cure  on  a  princess  of  Schwarzenberg  who 
had  been  for  some  years  a  paralytic.2  From  this 
experience  he  became  enthusiastic  in  healing,  and 
he  acquired  such  a  fame  as  a  performer  of  miracu- 
lous cures  that  multitudes  flocked  from  different 
countries  to  receive  the  benefit  of  his  supposed 
supernatural  gifts.  In  one  year  (1848-49)  there 
were  eighteen  thousand  people  who  obtained  access 
to  him.  His  name  and  his  titles  probably  had  not 
a  little  to  do  with  his  wide  influence.  They  were 

1 J.  M.  Buckley,  "Faith  Healing  and  Kindred  Phenomena," 
Century,  XXXII,  pp.  221  f. 

*  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  article  "Hohenlohe." 


284     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Alexander  Leopold  Franz  Emmerich,  Prince  of 
Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfiirst,  Archbishop 
and  Grand  Provost  of  Grosswardein,  Hungary,  and 
Abbot  of  St.  Michael's  at  Gaborjan. 

The  testimony  concerning  his  cures  is  from  reli- 
able witnesses.  Notice  the  letter  written  by  the 
ex-King  of  Bavaria  to  Count  von  Sinsheim,  describ- 
ing his  own  case: 

MY  DEAR  COUNT: 

There  are  still  miracles.  The  ten  last  days  of  the 
last  month,  the  people  of  Wiirzburg  might  believe 
themselves  in  the  times  of  the  Apostles.  The  deaf 
heard,  the  blind  saw,  the  lame  freely  walked,  not  by 
the  aid  of  art,  but  by  a  few  short  prayers,  and  by 
the  invocation  of  the  name  of  Jesus.  ...  On  the 
evening  of  the  28th,  the  number  of  persons  cured,  of 
both  sexes,  and  of  every  age,  amounted  to  more  than 
twenty.  These  were  of  all  classes  of  the  people,  from 
the  humblest  to  a  prince  of  the  blood,  who,  without 
any  exterior  means,  recovered,  on  the  27th  at  noon, 
the  hearing  which  he  had  lost  from  his  infancy.  This 
cure  was  effected  by  a  prayer  made  for  him  during 
some  minutes,  by  a  priest  who  is  scarcely  more  than 
twenty-seven  years  of  age — the  Prince  Hohenlohe. 
Although  I  do  not  hear  so  well  as  the  majority  of 
the  persons  who  are  about  me,  there  is  no  compari- 
son between  my  actual  state  and  that  which  it  was 
before.  Besides,  I  perceive  daily  that  I  hear  more 
clearly.  .  .  .  My  hearing,  at  present,  is  very  sensi- 
tive. Last  Friday,  the  music  of  the  troop  which 
defiled  in  the  square  in  front  of  the  palace,  struck 
my  tympanum  so  strongly,  that  for  the  first  time,  I 
was  obliged  to  close  the  window  of  my  cabinet. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY   285 

The  inhabitants  of  Wtirzburg  have  testified,  by  the 
most  lively  and  sincere  acclamations,  the  pleasure 
which  my  cure  has  given  them.  You  are  at  liberty 
to  communicate  my  letter,  and  to  allow  any  one 
who  wishes,  to  take  a  copy  of  it. 
BRUCKENAU,  July  3d,  1822.  Louis,  Prince  Royal. 

Professor  Onymus,  of  the  University  of  Wtirz- 
burg, reported  a  number  of  cases  cured  by  Prince 
Hohenlohe,  which  he  himself  witnessed.  He  gives 
the  following: 

"Captain  Ruthlein,  an  old  gentleman  of  Thun- 
dorf,  70  years  of  age,  who  had  long  been  pronounced 
incurable  of  paralysis,  which  kept  his  hand  clenched, 
and  who  had  not  left  his  room  for  many  years,  has 
been  perfectly  cured.  Eight  days  after  his  cure  he 
paid  me  a  visit,  rejoicing  in  the  happiness  of  being 
able  to  walk  freely. 

"A  man,  of  about  50,  named  Bramdel,  caused 
himself  to  be  carried  by  six  men  from  Carlstadt  to 
the  Court  at  Stauffenburg.  His  arms  and  legs  were 
utterly  paralyzed,  hanging  like  those  of  a  dead  man, 
and  his  face  was  of  a  corpse-like  pallor.  On  the 
prayer  of  the  Prince  he  was  instantly  cured,  rose 
to  his  feet,  and  walked  perfectly,  to  the  profound 
astonishment  of  all  present. 

"A  student  of  Burglauer,  near  Murmerstadt,  had 
lost  for  two  years  the  use  of  his  legs;  he  was  brought 
in  a  carriage,  and  though  he  was  only  partially  re- 
lieved by  the  first  and  second  prayer  of  the  Prince, 
at  the  third  he  found  himself  perfectly  well. 

"These  cures  are  real  and  they  are  permanent. 
If  any  one  would  excite  doubts  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  cases  operated  by  Prince  Hohenlohe,  it  is 


286   HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

only  necessary  to  come  hither  and  consult  a  thou- 
sand other  eye  and  ear  witnesses  like  myself.  Every 
one  is  ready  to  give  all  possible  information  about 
them."  > 

The  Mormons,  under  the  leadership  of  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.  (1805-1844),  were  healing  the  sick  about 
the  time  that  Prince  Hohenlohe  was  performing  his 
miracles  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  Smith  was 
born  in  Sharon,  Vermont.  The  Mormon  Church 
(The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints) 
was  founded  in  1830  in  Palmyra,  New  York,  and 
moved  from  there  to  Kirkland,  Ohio;  Indepen- 
dence, Missouri;  Nauvoo,  Illinois;  and  thence  to 
Utah.  Smith  was  successively  first  elder,  prophet, 
seer,  and  revelator.  The  year  the  church  was 
founded  Smith  began  his  healing  career  as  an  ex- 
orcist, casting  the  devil  out  of  Newel  Knight  in 
Colesville,  New  York.  Following  this,  there  was  a 
firm  belief  in  demoniacal  possession,  and  exorcism 
was  practised  by  both  Smith  and  his  followers, 
principally  by  means  of  command.  This  exorcism 
led  up  to  faith  healing. 

Smith's  maternal  uncle,  Jason  Mack,  was  a  firm 
believer  in  healing  by  prayer  and  practised  it;  later, 
the  Oneida  Community  of  Perfectionists  in  western 
New  York  cured  by  faith;  both  of  these  facts  would 
be  known  to  the  founder  of  Mormonism.  After 
adopting  faith  healing  he  soon  became  proficient  in 

1 D.  H.  Tuke,  Influence  of  the  Mind  upon  the  Body,  pp.  355  ff. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  287 

the  art.  Numerous  well-attested  cures  were  per- 
formed by  Smith  and  his  followers  in  other  places. 
Elder  Richards  advertised  in  England  "Bones  set 
through  Faith  in  Christ,"  and  Elder  Phillips  made 
the  additional  statement  that  "  while  commanding 
the  bones,  they  came  together,  making  a  noise  like 
the  crushing  of  an  old  basket."  All  forms  of  dis- 
ease were  treated,  but  not  always  successfully,  as 
may  be  inferred  from  Smith's  own  words:  "The 
cholera  burst  forth  among  us,  even  those  on  guard 
fell  to  the  earth  with  their  guns  in  their  hands.  .  .  . 
At  the  commencement  I  attempted  to  lay  on  hands 
for  their  recovery,  but  I  quickly  learned  by  painful 
experience,  that  when  the  great  Jehovah  decrees 
destruction  upon  any  people,  makes  known  His  de- 
termination, man  must  not  attempt  to  stay  hi* 
hand."  The  means  employed  varied,  but  included 
at  different  times  prayer,  command,  laying  on  of 
hands,  consecrated  handkerchiefs  and  other  cloths, 
baptism,  and  infrequently  anointing.1 

Crossing  the  ocean  again,  we  find  Johann  Chris- 
tolph  Blumhardt  (1805-1880)  performing  wonderful 
acts  of  healing.  He  assumed  his  first  independent 
charge  in  1838  when  he  became  pastor  of  the  village 
church  at  Moettlinger,  Wurtemberg.  He  was  known 
afterward  as  Pastor  Blumhardt.  Among  his  pa- 
rishioners was  Gottliebin  Ditters,  generally  thought 
to  be  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit.  After  two  years 

1 1.  W.  Riley,  The  Founder  of  Mormonism,  chaps.  VIII  and  IX. 


288   HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

prayer  and  care  for  this  woman,  he  saw  her  restored 
to  peace  of  mind.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  life 
of  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  for  healing.  After 
the  restoration  of  Gottliebin  a  spontaneous  and  en- 
tirely unexpected  revival  took  place  in  Moettlinger. 
Multitudes  came  from  afar  to  hear  this  sincere  man 
preach  his  simple  sermons,  and  in  many  cases  bodily 
disease  left  those  who  confessed  and  upon  whom 
Blumhardt  laid  his  hands.  It  became  noised  about 
that  those  who  repented,  with  whom  the  pastor 
prayed  and  upon  whom  he  laid  his  hands,  would  be 
healed.  "One  morning  a  mother  rushed  to  his 
house,  saying  that  she  had  by  an  accident  scalded 
her  child  with  boiling  soup.  The  infant  was  found 
screaming  with  agony.  He  took  the  child  in  his 
arms,  prayed  over  it,  and  it  grew  quiet.  It  had  no 
further  pain,  and  the  effects  of  the  scalding  were 
quickly  gone.  Another  child  was  nearly  blind  with 
disease.  A  neighboring  pastor,  when  consulted,  said 
to  the  parents:  'If  you  believe  Jesus  can  and  will 
heal  your  child,  by  all  means  go  to  Blumhardt,  but 
if  you  have  not  got  the  faith,  don't  do  it  on  any 
account;  let  an  operation  be  performed.'  'Well, 
we  have  faith,'  they  said,  and  went  to  Blumhardt. 
Three  days  after  it  was  perfectly  well."  These 
events  could  not  fail  to  attract  attention,  and  mira- 
cles or  healings  from  his  prayers  were  of  constant 
occurrence.  In  1852  Blumhardt  moved  to  Boll, 
Wurtemberg,  and  until  his  death  he  continued  his 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  289 

healing.  He  did  not  despise  human  means  of 
healing,  but  he  stoutly  held  that  Jesus  would 
answer  the  prayer  of  faith  uttered  for  and  by 
the  sick. 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  Father  Mathew 
(1790-1856)  attracted  a  large  number  of  persons 
who  were  in  need  of  healing.  He  was  best  known 
as  the  famous  apostle  of  temperance,  and  was  to 
Ireland  in  the  nineteenth  century  what  Wesley  was 
to  England  in  the  eighteenth.  He  also  travelled 
over  England  and  Scotland  and  spent  two  years 
in  America.  In  one  period  of  nine  months  he  in- 
duced two  hundred  thousand  persons  to  take  the 
temperance  pledge.  Among  other  things  he  cured 
blindness,  lameness,  paralysis,  hysteria,  headache, 
and  lunacy.  After  his  death  the  same  diseases 
which  he  had  cured  during  his  lifetime  were  just 
as  effectively  relieved  by  visiting  the  good  father's 
tomb,  in  the  firm  belief  that  a  miracle  would  be  per- 
formed. From  the  following  cure,  his  first  one,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  discovery  of  his  healing  power 
was  rather  accidental. 

"A  young  lady,  of  position  and  intelligence,  was 
for  years  the  victim  of  the  most  violent  headaches, 
which  assumed  a  chronic  character.  Eminent  ad- 
vice was  had  but  in  vain;  the  malady  became  more 
intense,  the  agony  more  excruciating.  Starting  up 
one  day  from  the  sofa  on  which  she  lay  in  a  delirium 
of  pain,  she  exclaimed — 'I  cannot  endure  this  torture 
any  longer;  I  will  go  and  see  what  Father  Mathew 


290  HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

can  do  for  me.'  She  immediately  proceeded  to 
Lehanagh,  where  Father  Mathew  was  then  sick  and 
feeble.  Flinging  herself  on  her  knees  before  him  she 
besought  his  prayers  and  blessing.  In  fact,  stung 
by  intolerable  suffering  she  asked  him  to  cure  her. 
'My  dear  child,  you  ask  me  what  no  mortal  has 
power  to  do.  The  power  to  cure  rests  alone  with 
God.  I  have  no  such  power.'  'Then  bless  me,  and 
pray  for  me — place  your  hand  on  my  head/  im- 
plored the  afflicted  lady.  'I  cannot  refuse  to  pray 
for  you,  or  to  bless  you/  said  Father  Mathew,  who 
did  pray  for  and  bless  her,  and  place  his  hand  upon 
her  poor  throbbing  brow.  Was  it  faith? — was  it 
magnetism? — was  it  the  force  of  imagination  exerted 
wonderfully?  I  shall  not  venture  to  pronounce 
what  it  was;  but  that  lady  returned  to  her  home 
perfectly  cured  of  her  distressing  malady.  More 
than  that — cured  completely,  from  that  moment, 
forward."  1 

About  the  same  time,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Mix,  a 
negro  woman  living  in  Connecticut,  achieved  great 
fame  through  her  healing  by  prayer.  Many  testi- 
fied to  the  efficacy  of  her  prayers  and  bewailed  her 
death. 

Francis  Schlatter  (1856-1909)  was  a  native  of 
Alsace,  France.  He  was  born  a  Roman  Catholic  and, 
so  far  as  he  was  affiliated  with  any  denomination, 
always  remained  one.  When  a  year  old,  he  was  blind 
and  deaf  and  was  cured  by  his  mother's  prayers. 
He  came  to  America  in  1891,  and  first  settled  at 
Jamestown,  Long  Island.  Early  in  1893  he  moved  to 

1  J.  F.  Maguire,  Father  Mathew,  pp.  529  f. 


GEORGE   O.    BARNES 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  291 

Denver,  Colorado,  and  in  the  following,July  he  felt 
impelled  by  inner  promptings  to  start  out,  he  knew 
not  whither.  Probably  mentally  unbalanced,  he 
wandered  through  the  wilderness  of  the  great  South- 
west without  shoes  or  hat.  Fasts,  temptations, 
visions,  arrests  and  imprisonments,  and  healings 
combined  to  furnish  his  experience  during  these 
wanderings,  always,  as  he  said,  being  led  by  the 
Father.  In  July,  1895,  he  arrived  at  Las  Lunas, 
New  Mexico,  where  he  first  attracted  public  atten- 
tion as  a  healer.  From  here  he  went  to  Albu- 
querque, where  he  treated  as  many  as  six  hundred 
persons  in  a  day,  many  very  effectively.  After  forty 
days'  fast,  which  was  broken  by  a  hearty  meal  of 
solid  food,  he  went  to  Denver  and  here  reached  the 
pinnacle  of  his  fame  and  success.  At  the  home  of 
a  sympathizer,  daily  from  9  A.  M.  to  4  p.  M.,  he 
treated  those  who  came  to  him,  always  without 
any  remuneration.  From  two  thousand  to  five 
thousand  people  would  congregate  in  line,  reaching 
nearly  around  a  city  block,  five  or  six  abreast,  but 
he  was  never  able  to  treat  more  than  two  thousand 
in  a  day.  Crowds  came  from  other  cities,  and  some 
few  from  great  distances,  even  the  New  England 
States.  He  stood  inside  a  fence,  and  as  each  one 
came  along  he  held  the  patient's  hand  for  a  short 
time;  lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  prayed  and  then  as- 
sured the  sufferer  of  relief  within  a  certain  time. 
Through  the  mail  and  in  other  ways  he  received 


292    HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

handkerchiefs  which  he  blessed  and  returned  with 
assurance  of  relief  through  them.  Not  all  cases 
handled  were  restored  to  health  or  even  noticeably 
eased,  but  large  numbers  testified  to  cures,  some  of 
which  came  immediately  and  others  by  degrees. 
He  did  not  preach.  Although  he  never  claimed  it, 
when  asked,  "Are  you  the  Christ?"  he  always  re- 
plied, "I  am."  He  wore  a  beard  and  long  hair,  and 
dressed  in  the  plainest  clothes.  In  appearance  he 
looked  not  unlike  the  pictures  of  the  traditional 
Christ.  Afterward  '  he  appeared  in  different  parts 
of  the  United  States,  but  never  with  the  same 
success  in  healing  as  in  Denver.1 

The  once  famous  Dr.  Newton  arrived  in  Boston  in 
1859  on  one  of  his  visits,  and  caused  an  extraordi- 
nary sensation.  Astonishing  results  were  reported 
in  the  way  of  cures.  The  lame,  having  no  further 
need  of  crutches,  left  them  behind;  the  blind  were 
cured,  and  several  chronic  cases  were  relieved.  He 
had  many  followers  and  disciples  among  whom  was 
"Dr."  Bryant,  who  settled  in  Detroit  and  healed 
there.  Rev.  J.  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  met  Dr.  Newton 
on  a  Mississippi  steam-boat,  when  the  latter  was 
returning  from  Havana  with  his  daughter  who  was 
very  low  with  consumption,  and  the  father  doubted 
if  she  would  reach  home  alive.  When  asked 
"Doctor,  why  could  you  not  heal  her?"  he  replied 
"It  seems  as  if  we  cannot  always  affect  our  own 

1  Biography  of  Francis  Schlatter,  The  Healer. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  293 

kindred."  At  this  time  he  denounced  his  pupil,  Dr. 
Bryant,  as  an  "unmitigated  fraud  who  had  no 
genuine  healing  power." 

"If  Bryant  be  an  unmitigated  fraud,  how  do  you 
account  for  the  cures  which  he  makes?"  asked  Dr. 
Buckley. 

"Oh!"  said  the  doctor,  "they  are  caused  by  the 
faith  of  the  people  and  the  concentration  of  their 
minds  upon  his  operations  with  the  expectation  of 
being  cured.  Now,"  said  he,  "nobody  would  go  to 
see  Bryant  unless  they  had  some  faith  that  he  might 
cure  them,  and  when  he  begins  his  operations  with 
great  positiveness  of  manner,  and  when  they  see 
the  crutches  he  has  there,  and  hear  the  people  testify 
that  they  have  been  cured,  it  produces  a  tremendous 
influence  on  them;  and  then  he  gets  them  started 
in  the  way  of  exercising,  and  they  do  a  good  many 
things  that  they  thought  they  could  not  do;  their 
appetites  and  spirits  revive,  and  if  toning  them  up 
can  possibly  reduce  the  diseased  tendency,  many 
of  them  will  get  well." 

Said  Dr.  Buckley:  "Doctor,  pardon  me,  is  not 
that  a  correct  account  of  the  manner  in  which  you 
perform  your  wonderful  works?" 

"Oh,  no,"  said  he;  "the  difference  between  a 
genuine  healer  and  a  quack  like  Bryant  is  as  wide 
as  the  poles."  * 

1 J.  M.  Buckley,  "Faith  Healing  and  Kindred  Phenomena," 
Century,  XXXII,  pp.  221  f. 


294     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Father  John  of  Cronstadt  (1829-1908)  was  a 
saintly  man,  and  furnishes  us  with  an  example  of 
the  healers  among  the  Orthodox  Church  of  the  East. 
He  was  famed  in  all  Russia  for  his  sanctity,  and  was 
so  thronged  by  crowds  for  hisjiealing  power  that  he 
often  had  to  escape  by  side  doors  after  celebrating 
the  communion.  His  cures  were  many,  but  I  choose 
his  own  account  of  one  as  an  example. 

"A  certain  person  who  was  sick  unto  death  from 
inflammation  of  the  bowels  for  nine  days,  without 
having  obtained  the  slightest  relief  from  medical 
aid,  as  soon  as  he  had  communicated  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  upon  the  morning  of  the  ninth  day,  re- 
gained his  health  and  rose  from  his  bed  of  sickness 
in  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  He  received  the 
Holy  Communion  with  firm  faith.  I  prayed  to  the 
Lord  to  cure  him.  'Lord/  said  I,  'heal  thy  servant 
of  his  sickness.  He  is  worthy,  therefore  grant  him 
this.  He  loves  thy  priests  and  sends  them  his 
gifts.'  I  also  prayed  for  him  in  church  before  the 
altar  of  the  Lord,  at  the  Liturgy,  during  the  prayer: 
'Thou  who  hast  given  us  grace  at  this  time,  with 
one  accord  to  make  our  common  supplication  unto 
thee/  and  before  the  Holy  Mysteries  themselves. 
I  prayed  in  the  following  words:  'Lord,  our  life! 
It  is  as  easy  for  thee  to  cure  every  malady  as  it  is 
for  me  to  think  of  healing.  It  is  as  easy  for  thee 
to  raise  every  man  from  the  dead  as  it  is  for  me  to 
think  of  the  possibility  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  Cure,  then,  thy  servant  Basil  of  his  cruel 
malady,  and  do  not  let  him  die;  do  not  let  his  wife 
and  children  be  given  up  to  weeping.7  And  the 
Lord  graciously  heard,  and  had  mercy  upon  him, 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     295 

although  he  was  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  death. 
Glory  to  thine  omnipotence  and  mercy,  that  thou, 
Lord,  hast  vouchsafed  to  hear  me!"  1 

For  the  past  century  and  a  half  healing  has  been 
carried  on  among  the  Pennsylvania  Germans  by 
means  of  a  superstitious  practice  known  as  "Pow- 
wow." A  book  called  The  Sixth  Book  of  Moses,  or 
Black  Art  is  said  to  be  the  basis  of  the  practice.  The 
practitioners  are  usually  women  of  the  most  igno- 
rant, degraded,  and,  not  infrequently,  immoral  class, 
and  in  harmony  with  this,  a  firm  belief  in  witch- 
craft is  entertained  by  them.  Notwithstanding  this, 
they  are  employed  at  times  by  intelligent  and  re- 
spectable people,  even  by  those  whose  standing  in 
the  community  might  well  guarantee  a  disbelief  in 
such  incantations.  The  healers  treat  for  burns, 
erysipelas  and  all  skin  diseases,  goitre,  tumors, 
rheumatism,  and  some  other  similar  troubles.  They 
have  different  formulas  for  the  various  diseases,  and 
the  belief  is  current  that  if  a  healer  should  reveal 
the  formula  to  her  own  sex,  she  would  lose  her 
power,  and  if  she  told  more  than  one  of  the  oppo- 
site sex,  the  power  would  be  taken  from  her.  The 
following  is  the  method  of  operating  for  burns: 

"Take  a  piece  of  red  woolen  yarn  and  wrap  it  into 
the  shape  of  a  ball.  Pass  it  slowly  around  the  burn 
and  while  doing  so,  repeat  three  times,  'The  fire 
burneth,  water  quencheth,  the  pain  ceaseth.'  After 

1  Father  John,  My  Life  in  Christ  (trans.  Goulaeff),  p.  201. 


296     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

which  reverse  the  movement  and  repeat  the  words 
again  three  times.  Then  take  the  yarn  upstairs, 
pull  out  the  chimney-stop,  put  the  yarn  in  the 
chimney,  and  as  soon  as  it  disappears  the  burn  is 
healed." 

There  have  been  a  number  of  cases  of  local  healers 
and  I  give  two  examples:  "At  the  time  of  the 
prevalence  of  cholera  in  Canada,  a  man  named 
Ayers,  who  came  out  of  the  States,  and  was  said  to 
be  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  New  Jersey,  was 
given  out  to  be  St.  Roche,  the  principal  patron 
saint  of  the  Canadians,  and  renowned  for  his  power 
in  averting  pestilential  diseases.  He  was  reported 
to  have  descended  from  heaven  to  cure  his  suffering 
people  of  the  cholera,  and  many  were  the  cases  in 
which  he  appeared  to  afford  relief.  Many  were  thus 
dispossessed  of  their  fright  in  anticipation  of  the 
disease,  who  might,  probably,  but  for  his  inspiriting 
influence,  have  fallen  victims  to  their  apprehensions. 
The  remedy  he  employed  was  an  admixture  of  ma- 
ple sugar,  charcoal,  and  lard."  * 

"The  Month  for  June,  1892,  published  an  account, 
by  the  late  Earl  of  Denbigh,  of  a  cure  worked  by  a 
member  of  a  family  named  Cancelli  of  Lady  Den- 
bigh in  1850.  She  was  suffering  severely  from 
rheumatism,  and  the  Pope  (Pius  IX)  mentioned 
to  the  Earl  that  near  Foligno  there  was  a  family  of 

1  T.  J.  Pettigrew,  Superstitions  Connected  with  .  .  .  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  p.  53. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     297 

peasants  who  were  credited  with  a  miraculous  power 
of  curing  rheumatic  disorders.  Lord  Denbigh  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  one  of  the  family,  an  old  man,  to 
come,  and  learned  from  him  the  legend  of  the  cure. 
The  belief  was  that  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  the  Apostles 
Peter  and  Paul  took  refuge  in  the  hut  of  an  old  couple 
named  Cancelli,  near  Foligno,  and,  as  a  proof  of 
gratitude,  gave  to  the  male  descendants  of  the  family 
living  near  the  spot  the  power  of  curing  rheumatic 
disorders  to  the  end  of  time.  Lord  Denbigh  de- 
scribed how  the  old  man  made  a  solemn  invocation, 
using  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and,  in  fact,  Lady  Den- 
bigh did  recover  at  once.  In  a  few  days  the  pains 
returned,  but  she  made  an  act  of  resignation,  and 
they  then  left  her,  and  never  returned  with  any 
acuteness." 

What  we  may  designate  "Metaphysical  Healing" 
originated  with  Phineas  Parkhurst  Quimby  (1802- 
1866).  The  movement  was  important,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  what  Quimby  himself  was  able  to 
accomplish  by  it,  as  because  of  the  work  that  has 
been  carried  on  since  by  at  least  three  of  his  pupils. 
He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  New  Hampshire,  and  in 
early  life  was  a  watch  and  clock  maker.  In  1840 
he  began  experimenting  with  mesmerism,  and  ac- 
counts of  these  experiments  were  published  in  the 
Maine  papers  of  that  time.  After  this  he  developed 
a  system  of  mental  healing  of  his  own,  practising  it 

i  E.  Berdoe,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Healing  Art,  p.  482. 


298     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

in  different  towns  in  Maine  for  some  years.  About 
1858  he  settled  as  a  practitioner  in  Portland  and 
remained  there  until  his  death.  I  shall  quote  brief 
extracts  in  his  own  words,  which  portray  his  system. 

"My  practice  is  unlike  all  medical  practice.  I 
give  no  medicine,  and  make  no  outward  applica- 
tions. I  tell  the  patient  his  troubles,  and  what  he 
thinks  is  his  disease;  and  my  explanation  is  the  cure. 
If  I  succeed  in  correcting  his  errors,  I  change  the 
fluids  of  the  system  and  establish  the  truth,  or 
health.  The  truth  is  the  cure.  This  mode  of  prac- 
tice applies  to  all  cases." 

"The  greatest  evil  that  follows  taking  an  opinion 
for  a  truth  is  disease." 

"Man  is  made  up  of  truth  and  belief;  and,  if  he 
is  deceived  into  a  belief  that  he  has,  or  is  liable  to 
have,  a  disease,  the  belief  is  catching,  and  the  effect 
follows  it." 

"Disease  being  made  by  our  belief,  or  by  our 
parents'  belief,  or  by  public  opinion,  there  is  no 
formula  to  be  adopted,  but  every  one  must  be 
reached  in  his  particular  case.  Therefore  it  re- 
quires great  shrewdness  or  wisdom  to  get  the  better 
of  the  error.  Disease  is  our  error  and  the  work  of 
the  devil."  1 

Quimby  made  many  wonderful  and  mostly  speedy 
cures,  and  although  he  wrote  out  his  system,  it  has 
never  been  published.  Among  his  patients  was  Mrs. 
Patterson  from  Hill,  New  Hampshire,  who  went  to 

1  J.  A.  Dresser,  The  True  History  of  Mental  Science;  A.  G.  Dresser, 
The  Philosophy  of  P.  P.  Quimby. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     299 

Portland  in  1862.  She  had  been  a  confirmed  invalid 
for  six  years.  To  quote  her  own  words,  published  in 
the  Portland  Evening  Courier  in  1862,  she  made  a 
rapid  recovery.  "Three  weeks  since  I  quitted  my 
nurse  and  sick  room  en  route  for  Portland.  The 
belief  of  my  recovery  had  died  out  of  the  hearts  of 
those  who  were  most  anxious  for  it.  With  this 
mental  and  physical  depression  I  first  visited  P.  P. 
Quimby,  and  in  less  than  one  week  from  that  time  I 
ascended  by  a  stairway  of  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
two  steps  to  the  dome  of  the  City  Hall,  and  am  im- 
proving ad  infinitum.  To  the  most  subtle  reasoning, 
such  a  proof,  coupled,  too,  as  it  is  with  numberless 
similar  ones,  demonstrates  his  power  to  heal."  Mrs. 
Patterson,  afterward  Mrs.  Eddy,  proclaimed  after 
his  death  a  doctrine  very  similar  to  Quimby's. 
She  called  it  "Christian  Science,"  a  name  Quimby 
applied  to  his  teaching,  although  usually  he  called 
it  "Science  of  Health." 

Another  patient  of  Quimby's  was  Julius  A.  Dres- 
ser, who  visited  him  first  in  1860.  Of  him  Mr. 
Dresser  says:  "The  first  person  in  this  age  who  pene- 
trated the  depths  of  truth  so  far  as  to  discover  and 
bring  forth  a  true  science  of  life,  and  publicly  apply 
it  to  the  healing  of  the  sick,  was  Phineas  Parkhurst 
Quimby  of  Belfast,  Me." 

Rev.  W.  F.  Evans  was  still  another  patient  and 
disciple  of  Quimby's.  His  testimony  is  as  follows: 
"Disease  being  in  its  root  a  wrong  belief,  change  that 


300     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

belief  and  we  cure  the  disease.  .  .  .  The  late  Dr. 
Quimby,  of  Portland,  one  of  the  most  successful 
healers  of  this  or  any  age,  embraced  this  view  of 
the  nature  of  disease,  and  by  a  long  succession  of 
most  remarkable  cures  .  .  .  proved  the  truth  of 
the  theory.  .  .  .  Had  he  lived  in  a  remote  age  or 
country,  the  wonderful  facts  which  occurred  in  his 
practice  would  have  now  been  deemed  either  mythi- 
cal or  miraculous." 

These  three,  Messrs.  Evans  and  Dresser  and  Mrs. 
Eddy,  proved  to  be  Quimby's  most  famous  patients 
and  disciples.  Evans  became  a  noted  and  volumi- 
nous writer  on  mental  healing,  Mr.  Dresser  has  been 
identified  with  the  New  Thought  movement  of  which 
his  son  H.  W.  Dresser  is  probably  the  best  exponent, 
and  Mrs.  Eddy  ruled  the  Christian  Scientists  with  a 
rod  of  iron. 

Warren  F.  Evans  visited  Quimby  twice  in  the 
year  1863,  and  at  these  times  obtained  his  knowledge 
of  Quimby's  methods.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  been 
a  Swedenborgian  clergyman,  and  his  beliefs  enabled 
him  the  better  to  grasp  the  new  doctrines.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  second  visit  he  told  his  healer  that 
he  thought  he  could  cure  the  sick  in  this  way,  and 
Quimby  agreed  with  him.  On  returning  home  he 
tried  it,  and  his  first  attempts  were  so  successful  that 
he  became  a  practitioner,  using  only  mental  means, 
and  continued  in  this  work.  He  wrote  several  books 
on  the  subject  of  mental  healing,  the  first  one, 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  301 

The  Mental  Cure,  appearing  in  1869,  six  years  before 
Mrs.  Eddy's  Science  and  Health. 

Perhaps,  strictly  speaking,  the  New  Thought 
movement  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  our 
subject,  except  as  we  see  in  it  an  outgrowth  and  ap- 
plication of  the  Quimby  doctrine,  for  two  reasons. 
In  the  first  place,  its  purpose  is  mental  hygiene 
rather  than  cure,  and  it  is  all  the  more  valuable  for 
that.  Of  course,  in  establishing  hygienic  practices 
many  disorders  are  cured,  but  prevention  is  the 
main  feature.  The  second  reason  why  we  might 
perhaps  not  include  it  in  a  resume  of  the  healers  is 
that  it  is  intended  to  be  for  the  use  of  the  individual 
to  prevent  his  employing  a  healer  of  any  kind.  The 
same  objection,  however,  would  do  away  to  some 
extent  with  a  discussion  of  Christian  Science.  The 
principles  of  New  Thought  are  that  the  mind  has 
an  influence  on  the  body,  and  that  good,  sweet,  pure 
thoughts  have  a  salutary  effect,  but  the  opposite 
ones  injure  the  body.  Don't  worry,  don't  think  of 
disease,  don't  look  for  trouble,  but  fill  the  mind  with 
the  opposite  positive  thoughts  and  life  will  be  happy 
and  the  body  will  be  well.  The  doctrines  are  ex- 
pounded differently  by  the  various  leaders,  and 
emphasis  is  laid  on  different  points,  some  emphasiz- 
ing more  fully  the  religious  aspects  of  the  move- 
ment, for  example.  The  principal  writers  on  the 
subject  are  H.  W.  Dresser,  R.  W.  Trine,  H.  Wood, 
and  H.  Fletcher. 


302     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Morse  Baker  Glover  Patterson  Eddy 
(1821-1910)  was  born  at  Bow,  New  Hampshire. 
After  a  precocious  and  neurotic  childhood,  she 
united  with  the  Congregational  Church  when  seven- 
teen years  of  age.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  she 
married  George  Washington  Glover,  probably  the 
best  of  her  husbands.  His  death,  six  months  later, 
was  followed  by  the  birth  of  her  only  child  and  a 
ten  years'  widowhood.  During  this  time  she  stayed 
with  her  relatives  and  had  long  periods  of  illness, 
principally  of  an  hysterical  character.  She  then 
experimented  to  some  extent  with  mesmerism  and 
clairvoyance.  In  1853  she  married  Dr.  Daniel  Pat- 
terson, an  itinerant  dentist,  from  whom  she  got  a 
divorce,  and  as  Mrs.  Patterson  she  went  first  to 
"Dr."  Quimby  in  1862.  She  visited  Quimby  again 
in  1864,  at  which  time,  with  some  others,  she  studied 
with  him.  After  Quimby's  death  she  began  teach- 
ing what  she  then  called  his  science.  For  the  next 
few  years  she  wandered  from  town  to  town  about 
Boston  in  straitened  circumstances,  healing,  teach- 
ing, and  endeavoring  to  found  an  organized  society. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  1875  that  the  organiza- 
tion was  formed  in  Lynn,  and  later  in  the  same  year 
appeared  her  Science  and  Health.  The  years  since 
then  have  been  filled  with  controversies  in  the  law 
.courts  and  newspapers,  caresses  and  blows  from 
the  ruling  hand  of  Mother  Eddy,  and  numerous 
developments  from  small  beginnings,  until  now 


MARY    BAKER    EDDY 


over  one  hundred  thousand  are  identified  with  the 
organization.  These  are  almost  without  exception 
proselytes  from  other  churches. 

Mrs.  Eddy's  doctrines  are  founded  on  a  meta- 
physical theory  known  as  subjective  idealism,  and 
advanced  centuries  before  her  birth.  It  posits  the 
all-comprehensiveness  of  mind  and  the  non-existence 
of  matter.  If  bodies  do  not  exist,  diseases  cannot 
exist,  and  must  be  only  mental  delusions.  If  the 
mind  is  freed  of  these  delusions  the  disease  is  gone. 
This  was  Quimby's  method  of  procedure  already 
quoted.  In  Science  and  Health  she  says  that  the 
object  of  treatment  is  "to  destroy  the  patient's 
belief  in  his  physical  condition."  She  also  advises: 
"Mentally  contradict  every  complaint  of  the  body." 
She  continues:  "All  disease  is  the  result  of  educa- 
tion, and  can  carry  its  ill  effects  no  further  than 
mortal  mind  maps  out  the  way.  Destroy  fear," 
she  says,  "and  you  end  the  fever."  However,  as 
with  other  healers,  practice  and  theory  are  two 
different  things.  Listen  further:  "It  would  be 
foolish  to  venture  beyond  our  present  understand- 
ing, foolish  to  stop  eating,  until  we  gain  more  good- 
ness and  a  clearer  comprehension  of  the  living  God." 
Again:  "Until  the  advancing  age  admits  the  efficacy 
and  the  supremacy  of  Mind,  it  is  better  to  leave 
the  adjustment  of  broken  bones  and  dislocations  to 
the  ringers  of  the  surgeon,  while  you  confine  your- 
self chiefly  to  mental  reconstruction,  and  the  pre- 


304  HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

vention   of  inflammation  and  protracted  confine- 
ment." l 

With  the  exception  of  Christian  Science,  no  mod- 
ern religious  movement  has  come  so  prominently 
before  the  public  and  gained  so  many  adherents  in 
a  short  time  as  the  Christian  Catholic  Apostle  Church 
of  Zion,  and  both  movements  owe  their  popularity 
solely  to  their  healing.  John  Alexander  Dowie 
(1847-1907),  the  founder  of  this  sect,  was  born  in 
Edinburgh,  Scotland,  but  in  1860,  with  his  parents, 
he  went  to  Australia,  returning  for  two  years  to  his 
native  city  for  college  study.  In  1870  he  was  or- 
dained to  the  Congregational  ministry.  He  served 
three  churches,  and  after  some  political  activity 
was  offered  a  portfolio  in  the  Australian  cabinet  of 
Sir  Henry  Parks.  In  1882  he  went  to  Melbourne  and 
established  a  large  independent  church,  building  a 
tabernacle  for  worship.  About  this  time  he  became 
a  firm  believer  in  Divine  Healing  in  direct  answer  to 
prayer.  He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  in  1888  and 
spent  two  years  in  organizing  branches  of  the  Divine 
Healing  Association  of  which  he  was  president. 
He  went  to  Chicago  in  1890  and  continued  there 
holding  meetings  for  some  years.  In  1895  he  broke 
away  from  the  International  Divine  Healing  Asso- 
ciation, which  he  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in 
organizing,  and  insisted  that  his  followers  should 
not  remain  in  the  churches.  The  following  year 

1  G.  Milmine,  Mary  Baker  G,  Eddy. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     305 

the  Christian  Catholic  Church  was  organized.  Of 
this  organization  Mr.  Dowie  was  known  as  General 
Overseer,  then  as  Prophet,  and  in  1904  as  First 
Apostle.  He  also  proclaimed  himself  in  general  as 
the  messenger  of  the  Covenant  and  Elijah  the  Re- 
storer. In  1900  Mr.  Dowie  said:  "About  twenty- 
two  thousand  have  been  baptized  by  triune  immer- 
sion up  to  the  present,  and  this  includes  practically 
all  the  members."  This,  however,  was  a  great  ex- 
aggeration. In  1901  the  head-quarters  of  the  church 
was  moved  to  Zion  City,  forty-two  miles  north  of 
Chicago.  He  preached  the  threefold  gospel  of 
Salvation,  Healing,  and  Holy  Living.  Dowie  dif- 
fered from  Christian  Science  in  proclaiming  the 
reality  of  disease,  the  distinctive  feature  of  his 
doctrine  being  that  all  bodily  ailment  is  the  work 
of  the  Devil,  and  that  Christ  came  to  destroy  the 
works  of  the  Devil.  His  contempt  for  external 
means  may  be  judged  from  the  title  of  a  pamphlet, 
Doctors,  Drugs,  and  Devils;  nevertheless,  he  used 
physicians  at  least  to  diagnose  cases  at  different 
times,  a  licensed  medical  doctor,  Speicher,  being 
associated  with  him  from  the  beginning  of  his  work 
in  Chicago.  Dentists  are  a  factor  of  Zion  City, 
and  it  is  said  he  also  used  an  oculist.  According  to 
his  doctrine  there  are  four  methods  of  cure:  "The 
first  is  the  direct  prayer  of  faith;  the  second,  inter- 
cessory prayer  of  two  or  more;  the  third,  the 
anointing  of  the  elders,  with  the  prayer  of  faith; 


306     HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

and  the  fourth,  the  laying  on  of  hands  of  those  who 
believe,  and  whom  God  has  prepared  and  called  to 
that  ministry."  In  addition  to  this,  teaching  is  the 
basis  of  all  other  methods.  The  first  ten  years  of 
his  healing  he  is  said  to  have  laid  hands  on  eighteen 
thousand  sick,  and  he  declared  that  the  greater  part 
of  them  were  fully  healed.  In  some  of  his  later 
years  he  said  in  an  issue  of  his  paper:  "I  pray  and 
lay  hands  on  seventy  thousand  people  in  a  year." 
That  would  make  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  in  two  and  a  half  years;  but  in  the  time 
preceding  the  statement  he  reported  only  seven 
hundred  cures.  Evidently  very  few  were  helped. 
However,  in  Shiloh  Tabernacle  at  Zion  City  are 
exhibited  on  the  walls  crutches,  canes,  surgical  in- 
struments, trusses,  and  almost  every  form  of  appa- 
ratus used  by  the  medical  profession,  presented  by 
people  who  have  now  no  further  use  for  them  on 
account  of  their  being  healed.1 

Our  study  began  with  the  mental  therapeutics  of 
over  a  millennium  before  the  birth  of  Christ;  let  us 
now  close  with  that  of  the  twentieth  century  after, 
in  giving  some  account  of  the  so-called  Emmanuel 
Movement.  In  1905  there  was  formed  in  connec- 
tion with  Emmanuel  Church,  Boston,  a  tuberculosis 
class  for  the  alleviation  of  unfortunates  of  this 
kind.  In  this  experience  it  was  found  that  cer- 
tain psychic  and  social  factors  greatly  aided  in  a 

1  R.  Harlan,  John  Alexander  Dowie. 


HEALERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY     307 

cure,  and  in  the  following  year,  1906,  the  work  ex- 
panded into  what  has  been  called  the  "Emmanuel 
Movement."  It  is  an  attempt  to  combine  the  wis- 
dom and  efforts  of  the  physician,  the  clergyman, 
the  psychologist,  and  the  sociologist,  to  combat 
conditions  most  frequently  met  in  a  large  city.  In 
the  medical  phase  of  the  work  mental  healing  has 
had  a  large  place,  and  has  been  emphasized  most  in 
the  popular  presentation  of  the  movement,  and  so 
far  as  the  idea  has  spread,  it  has  been  almost  wholly 
in  connection  with  this  aspect.  What  the  future 
of  this  will  be  is  uncertain,  but  it  seems  probable 
that  its  most  valuable  service  will  be  in  stimulating 
the  physicians  to  take  up  the  work  which  properly 
belongs  to  them — the  work  of  therapeutics  in  all  its 
branches,  mental  and  physical. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 


ABRAXAS,  165  ff. 
Ague,  168,  172  f.,  197  ff. 
Amulets,  Chapter  VII — 

definition  of,  138  f.,  158  f. 
Astrology,  141  f.,  146  ff. 

BAQUET,  MESMER'S,  255  f. 
Bites  of  venomous  animals,  200  f. 
Burns,  201. 

CABBALISM,  194. 
Calculus,  176  f. 
Cancer,  9  f. 
Canonization,  111. 
Catacombs,  66. 
Characts,  166  ff. 
Charms,  Chapter  VIII— 

composition  of,  193. 

definition  of,  189  f. 
Childbirth,  162,  168,  177,  202. 
Cholera,  177. 
Chorea,  203. 

Christianity,  influence  of,  Chap- 
ter III. 
Christian  Science,  16  f.,  298  f, 

302  f. 

Colic,  177  f.,  203. 
Consumption,  203  f. 
Cramp,  178,  204,  246  ff. 
Cross,  true,  69,  79  f. 

DEMONOLOQY — 

and  animals,  38  f . 

and  Apostolic  Fathers,  40  ff. 

and  Dark  Ages,  44  ff. 

Christian,  37  ff. 

Jewish,  36  f. 

Diseases,  functional  and  organic, 
9. 


Dislocations,  204  f. 
Dropsy,  205. 

EMMANUEL  MOVEMENT,  306  f. 
Epilepsy,  178  f.,  205  ff. 
Erysipelas,  180  f. 
Evil  eye,  181,  207. 
Exorcism,  49  ff,  126  f.,  134  f., 
275,  286. 

by  amulets,  178. 

by  charms,  204. 

by  relics,  63. 
Eye    disease,    168    f.,    181    f., 

207. 

FAITH,  14  f. 
Faith  cure,  16,  17. 
Fevers,  166,  182,  208. 

GEMS,  161  ff.,  176. 
Goitre,  209. 
Gout,  182  f. 

HEADACHE,  183,  209  f. 
Healers,  Chapter  V — 

and  exorcism,  110. 

by  unction,  114  ff. 

Christian,  113  ff. 

Mesmeric,  Chapter  X. 

of  nineteenth  century,  Chapter 

XL 

Hemorrhage,  210  f. 
Herpes,  211  f. 
Hypnotism,  Chapter  X. 

controversy  over,  257  ff. 

historic  periods  of,  264  f. 

Mesmer  and,  252  ff. 

scientific  period  of,  267  f. 
Hysteria,  183. 


309 


310 


INDEX 


INCUBATION,  26,  92  ff. 

Greek,  93  ff . 
Incubus,  212. 
Insanity,  162,  183,  213. 
Insomnia,  212. 

JAUNDICE,  212  f. 

MAGNETISM,  249  ff. 
Mandragora,  171  f. 
Marasmus,  214. 
Medicine  and  church,  53  S. 

Babylonian,  27. 

Chinese,  21  ff. 

Egyptian,  24  ff. 

Greek,  28  ff. 

History  of,  19  f. 

Indian,  28. 

Jewish,  27. 

Primitive,  4,  20. 

Roman,  34. 
Melancholy,  183. 
Mental  healing,  explanation  of, 

7ff. 

Mesmerism.     See  Hypnotism. 
Metaphysical  cures,  16,  297  ff. 

NUMBERS,  190  ff. 
OIL  OF  SAINTS,  66  f . 

PERICARPIA,  173. 

Phylacteries,  141. 

Plague,  183. 

Pools,  83  ff,  92. 

Preyer,  274  f.,  280    ff.,    283    f., 

288,  291,  294. 
Psycho-analysis,  12  f. 

RE-EDUCATION,  12  f. 
Relics,  5,  Chapter  V — 
and  Church  Fathers,  64  f. 


cost  of,  96  ff. 

fraud  among,  101  f. 

from  Holy  Land,  69  ff. 
Religion  and  Healing,  4  ff.,  21, 

Chapter  Ill- 
Revivalists,  274  ff. 
Rickets,  214  f. 
Rings,  179  f.,  184,  246  ff. 
Royal  Touch,  Chapter  IX— 

ceremony  of,  240  ff. 

origin  of,  225  ff. 

SAINTS   AND   DISEASES,   74  ff., 

81  f. 

Sciatica,  215. 

Scrofula,  185,  215,  Chapter  IX. 
Shrines,  Chapter  IV — 

modern,  106  f. 
Sick,  care  of,  57  f. 
Signatures,  56,  142  ff. 
Spittle,  195. 

Subconsciousness,  11,  12,  14. 
Suggestions,  8,  251  f. 
Sweating  sickness,  215. 
Sympathetic  cures,  150  ff: 

TALISMANS,  Chapter  VI — 
definition  of,  138  ff,  142. 
Therapeutics.     See  Medicine. 
Thorns,  216. 

Toothache,  166,  186,  217  f. 
Touch  pieces,  233  f . 

UNCTION,  144  ff,  274,  280. 

WARTS,  218  f. 
Weapon-salve,  151  ff. 
Wells,  holy,  83  ff. 
Wen,  219  f. 

Whooping-cough,  186,  220  ff. 
Worms,  223. 
Wounds,  184  f. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES 


ABRAHAM,  100. 
Adam,  41. 
Adrian,  Pope,  184. 
^Esculapius,  29,  30,  31,  32,  33, 

63,  83,  86. 
Agatha,  St.,  75. 
Agnan,  St.,  75. 
Agrippa,  59,  191. 
Albans,  St.,  202. 
Albert  us  Magnus,  159,  164. 
Alboquerque,  A.  d'.  185. 
Alexander  III,  55,  227. 
Alexander  of  Tralles,  171,  173, 

178,  180,  182,  196. 
Ambrose,  St.,  38,  64,  65,  66,  70. 
Andreas,  St.,  80. 
Andrews,  196. 

Anne,  Queen,  228,  233,  239,  240. 
Anne,  St.,  de  Beaupre",  106,  107. 
Anthony,  St.,  75,  80. 
Antoinette,  Marie,  258. 
Antoninus,  31. 
Apes,  Valerius,  32. 
Apollo,  29,  31,  83. 
Apollonia,  St.,  75,  76. 
Aquarius,  74. 
Aredius,  119. 
Aries,  74. 
Aristophanes,  31. 
Aristotle,  19,  29,  164. 
Armstrong,  3. 
Arnot,  H.,  141. 
Ashburner,  267. 
Ashmole,  E.  173. 
Athanasius,  42. 
Aubrey,  215,  228. 
Augustine,  St.,  43,  64,  108. 
Aurelian,  Father,  48. 
Avertin,  St.,  75. 


Ayers,  296. 
Azam,  269. 

BAAS,  171,  203. 

Bacci,  P.  J.,  132. 

Bacon,  F.,  242. 

Bacon,  R.,  59. 

Badger,  230. 

Bagnone,  F.,  136. 

Bailly,  256,  259. 

Balsius,  St.,  74. 

Baltus,  43. 

Barbarin,  de,  261. 

Bargrave,  250. 

Barnabas,  St.,  75. 

Barnes,  G.  O.,  277. 

Barrington,  233. 

Barros,  de,  184. 

Bates,  205. 

Bath-Chorin,  28. 

Becket,  78. 

Bede,  72,  74,  118,  121,  122,  149. 

Belgrade,  168. 

Benedict,  St.,  75. 

Benedict  XIV,  111. 

Berdoe,  E.,  32,  35,  106,  129,  145, 
146,  148,  169,  174,  177,  180, 
200,  205,  211,  218,  226,  228, 
297. 

Berenger,  98. 

Bernard,  Dr.  C.,  239,  240. 

Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  122,  123. 

Bernard,  St.,  38,  77. 

Bernheim,  H.,  106,  270. 

Bertrand,  265. 

Binet,  255,  270. 

Bingham,  160. 

Black,  219. 

Blair,  224. 
311 


312 


INDEX 


Blaise,  St.,  75. 

Blochwick,  178. 

Blumhardt,  J.  C.,  287  f. 

Boardman,  W.  E.,  282. 

Bockmann,  263. 

Bois,  John  de,  125. 

Boleyn,  A.,  247,  248. 

Boncompagni,  Cardinal,  132. 

Boniface,  St.,  77. 

Bonner,  Bishop,  202. 

Bontius,  177. 

Boorde,  A.,  228,  247. 

Bossuet,  47. 

Boswell,  239. 

Boyle,  R.,  173,  176,  211,  214. 

Braid,  264,  267,  268,  269. 

Bramdel,  285. 

Brand,  J.,  90,  147,  160,  168,  173, 

179,  185,  195,  197,  199,  200, 

204,  208,  209,  211,  215,  216, 

218,  220,  232,  233. 
Brand  the  Historian,  210. 
Broca,  269. 
Brockett,  187. 
Brogawn,  St.,  91. 
Browne,  Dr.  E.,  213. 
Browne,  J.,  233,  234,  236. 
Browne,   Sir  T.,   35,    186,    195, 

213,  218,  236. 
Bryant,  Dr.,  292  f. 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  153. 
Buckland,  Prof.,  102. 
Buckle,  H.  T.,  45. 
Buckley,  J.  M.,  283,  292,  293. 
Bulwer-Lytton,  158. 
Burdin,  266. 
Burgarde,  St.,  74. 
Burgrave,  250. 
Burnet,  247. 
Burton,  R.,  158,  159,  160,  173, 

183. 

Butler,  243. 
Butler,  A.,  161. 
Butler,  J.,  129. 

CAIUS,  31. 
Calama,  64. 
Calixtus  II,  55. 


Cancelli,  296. 

Capricornus,  74. 

Capua,  Raimondo  da,  127,  128, 

129. 

Carodoc,  9. 

Catharine,  St.,  126,  127. 
Cato  the  Censor,  204. 
Chalmers,  14. 
Chamberlain,  J.,  230. 
Charcot,  106,  270. 
Charles  I,  230,  231. 
Charles  II,  232,  234,  241,  246. 
Charles  II  of  Spain,  45. 
Charles  Edward,  Prince,  240. 
Chaucer,  61,  142,  164,  224. 
Chesterfield,  3. 
Chilperic,  119. 
Christopher,  St.,  75. 
Chrysippus,  182. 
Chrysostom,  St.,  67,  116,  159. 
Churchill,  3. 
Cicero,  19. 

Clairvaux,  Abbot  of,  77. 
Clara,  St.,  76. 
Clarke,  R.  F.,  105. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  165. 
Clement  VIII,  Pope,  132. 
Cleophas,  Simon,  75. 
Clerk,  Mrs.,  148. 
Clothair  II,  119. 
Clovis  I,  225. 
Cockayne,  178,  194. 
Coirin,  la  demoiselle,  105. 
Coles,  144. 
Coleta,  78,  120. 
Collier,  J.,  226. 
Collinson,  89 
Collyer,  Dr.,  268. 
Comines,  P.  de,  243. 
Conway,  Lord,  135. 
Cosmo,  118. 
Cotta,  181. 
Cowles,  W.,  229. 
Cromwell,  O.,  113. 
Cros,  J.  M.,  130. 
Crowley,  220. 
Cudworth,  Dr.,  136. 
Cullis,  C.,  281. 


INDEX 


313 


Cullum,  Sir  J.,  214. 

Cuthbert,  St.,  72,  73,  74,  118. 

Cyprian,  43. 

Cyril,  St.,  64. 

Cyrus,  St.,  67,  159,  116. 

DAMIAN,  118. 
Darling,  268. 
Dearmer,  P.,  67,  68,  96,  105, 

115,  121. 
Delenze,  264. 
Democritus,  33. 
Denbigh,  Earl  of,  296. 
Deslon,  254,  258,  262. 
Deubner,  L.,  96. 
Deucalion,  208. 
Digby,  Sir  E.,  151. 
Digby,  Sir  K,  151  ff.,  155,  218. 
Ditters,  G.  287. 
Dodd,  Dr.,  219. 
Donee,  181,  199. 
Dowie,  J.  A.,  304  f. 
Draper,  J.  W.,  72. 
Dresser,  A.  G.,  298. 
Dresser,  H.  W.,  300,  301. 
Dresser,  J.  A.,  298,  299. 
Dromore,  Bishop  of,  135. 
Dryden,  155. 
Dundee,  B.,  223. 
Dupotel,  Baron,  257. 
Durham,  Bishop  of,  59. 
Dziewicki,  M.  H.,  51. 

ECCLES,  146. 

Eddy,  Mrs.,  16,  299,  300,  301, 

302. 

Edine,  St.,  76. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  225,  226, 

227,  228,  234. 
Edward  II,  145. 
Edward  III,  234 
Edward  VI,  248. 
Eleazar,  37. 
Elisha,  109. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  184,  202,  229, 

234,  247. 
Elliotson,  267. 
Elpideus,  59. 


Empedocles,  29. 
Encelius,  161. 
Ennemoser,  266. 
Ennodius,  St.,  59. 
Erasmus,  St.,  74,  76. 
Estrade,  J.  B.,  106. 
Euhodias,  114. 
Eustachius,  86. 
Eustasius,  Abbe,  119,  120. 
Eutrope,  St.,  76. 
Evans,  W.  F.,  299  f. 
Evelyn,  241. 
Evremond,  St.,  134. 

FABIAN,  POPE,  43. 

Faria,  265. 

Farnham,  N.  de,  59. 

Fecamp,  107. 

Felix,  Minucius,  42. 

Felix,  Mons,  104. 

Ferdinand,  155. 

Fe"re",  255,  270. 

Ferrarius,  198. 

Fiage,  St.,  76. 

Fillan,  St.,  88,  213. 

Finney,  C.  G.,  276,  277. 

Fisher,  G.  P.,  64. 

Fitz-Nigel,  R.  59. 

Fletcher,  61. 

Fletcher,  H.,  301. 

Floyer,  Sir  J.,  239. 

Fluctibus,  A.,  151. 

Fludd,  Dr.,  151,  250. 

Foissac,  265. 

Fontenelle,  19. 

Fort,  G.  F.,  46,  59,  63,  77,  80, 

81,  96,  97,  121,  127,  149,  165, 

171,  172,  194,  207. 
Fortescue,  Sir  J.,  228. 
Fosbrooke,  84,  142. 
Foster,  Parson,  151. 
Fox,  G.,  132  f. 
Francis,  Father,  91. 
Francis  I,  Emperor,  146. 
Francis  I,  King,  243. 
Francis,  St.,  124. 
Franklin,  259. 
Franz,  A.,  171. 


314 


INDEX 


GALEN,  19,  196. 

Gall,  St.,  46,  77,  81,  100,  119. 

Gamaliel,  64. 

Ganny,  S.,  125. 

Gardiner,  Bishop,  247. 

Gassner,  J.  J.,  136,  254. 

Gemelli,  244. 

Gemini,  74. 

Genevieve,  St.,  68,  76,  118. 

Genow,  St.,  76. 

George  I,  240. 

George,  St.,  67,  94,  97,  98. 

Gereon,  St.,  101. 

Germain,  St.,  117. 

Germanus,  St.,  76. 

Gervasius,  St.,  65. 

Gilbourne,  Lord,  155. 

Giles,  St.,  76. 

Glocenius,  250. 

Gmelin,  263. 

Goldsmith,  19. 

Googe,  B.,  203. 

Gorres,  130. 

Gower,  189. 

Gracian,  B.,  250. 

Greatrakes,  V.,  133  S. 

Gregory,  Mr.,  248. 

Gregory,  of  Nazianzus,  43,  118. 

Gregory,  of  Tours,  44,  68,  69,  83, 

118. 

Gregory,  St.,  98. 
Gregory  the  Great,  44,  45,  72. 
Gregory  XIII,  Pope,  132. 
Grimes,  268. 
Gros,  D.  de,  269. 
Grose,  90,  218. 
Gudule,  St.,  104. 
Guffe,  John,  125. 
Guthlac,  St.,  77. 

HALL,  BISHOP,  91,  158. 
Hamerton,  138. 
Hamilton,  Miss  M.,  93,  94,  96. 
Hammond,  W.  A.,  153, 154,  157, 

244,  245. 
Hardy,  22. 
Harlan,  R.,  306. 
Harrington,  Sir  J.,  163. 


Hasted,  86. 

Hatton,  Lord  Charles,  184,  247. 

Helen,  Empress,  70. 

Helinotius,  250. 

Hell,  252,  253. 

Helmont,  von,  150. 

Henry  II  and  III,  59. 

Henry  IV,  225. 

Henry  VII,  85,  234,  240. 

Henry  VIII,  247. 

Hensler,  266. 

Hercules,  33,  83. 

Herring,  183. 

Herz,  Frau,  48. 

Heylin,  Dr.,  238,  243. 

Heywood,  189. 

Higden,  Ranulf,  91. 

Hilarion,  St.,  38,  117. 

Hippo,  64. 

Hippocrates,  28,  32,  47. 

Hippolito,  155. 

Hobbes,  242. 

Hohenlohe,  Prince,  283  f. 

Holloway,  262. 

Holt,  Sir  J.,  174  f. 

Homer,  29,  30. 

Hospinian,  247. 

Howell,  A.  G.,  124. 

Howell,  J.,  152  f. 

Hubert,  St.,  78,  79,  81,  82. 

Hugo,  120. 

Hyacinth,  St.,  76. 

Hyde,  139. 

Hygeia,  Tecla,  86. 

IATRICOS,  83. 
Imbert-Gourbyzee,  106. 
Innocent  II,  55. 
Innocent  III,  55. 
Irenseus,  41,  113. 
Isaac,  100. 

JACKSON,  167. 

Jacob,  97,  100. 

James,  114,  115. 

James  I,  229. 

James  II,  153,  238. 

Jerome,  of  Brunsweig,  187. 


INDEX 


315 


Jerome,  St.,  117. 

Joane,  Mother,  of  Stowe,  197. 

Job,  St.,  76. 

John,  66,  123. 

John,  Father,  of  Cronstadt,  294  f. 

John,  of  Gladdesden,  145,  206. 

John,   St.,  67,   74,   75,   76,   93, 

97. 

John,  St.,  of  Beverly,  121. 
Johnson,  Dr.  S.,  238  f. 
Johnson,  Mrs.,  239. 
Joseph,  25,  75. 
Josephus,  28,  37. 
Julian,  32,  44. 
Juliana,  St.,  76,  118. 
Julius  Africanus,  166. 
Jussieu,  L.  de,  259. 
Just,  St.,  98. 
Justina,  Empress,  65. 

KAMPFER,  146. 

King,  E.  A.,  60,  173,  182,  187, 

193,  204,  205,  217. 
Kircher,  250. 
Koreff,  263. 
Kublai  Khan,  185. 

LACIANUS,  64. 

Lactantius,  42. 

La  Fontaine,  267. 

Laneham,  R.,  229. 

Lascaris,  243. 

Laurent,  du,  192. 

Laurentia,  127. 

Laurentius,  225,  243. 

Lavater,  263. 

Lavoisier,  259. 

Lawrence,  St.,  74,  76. 

Leatus,  75. 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.,  42,  65,  113, 

242,  243. 
Lee,  267. 
Lemnius,  L.,  195. 
Leo,  74. 
Leo,  Pope,  100. 
Leonastes,  68. 
Leverett,  John,  136. 
Liberius,  St.,  76. 


Libra,  74. 

Liebeault,  269,  270,  271. 

Lilly,  86. 

Lindsey,  Earl  of,  231. 

Littre,  M.,  80. 

Lluellin,  212. 

Locke,  242. 

Lodge,  198. 

London,  Bishop  of,  59. 

Longfellow,  273. 

Louis  I,  225. 

Louis  XIII,  244. 

Louis,  Prince,  285. 

Louis,  St.,  79. 

Loutherbourg,  262. 

Lucian,  218. 

Lucy,  St.,  76. 

Luke,  75,  97. 

Lupton,  180,  185. 

Luther,  Martin,  47,  129. 

MACARIUS,  ST.,  116. 
Macaulay,  C.  S.,  89. 
Macaulay,  Mrs.,  89. 
Macaulay,  T.  B.,  232,  241. 
Macdonald,  204. 
Machaon,  30. 
Mack,  J.,  286. 
Mackay,  C.,  69,  71,   100,   104, 

108,  157,  256,  262. 
Madern,  St.,  91. 
Magnus,  St.,  79. 
Maimonides,  140. 
Mainadus,  Dr.,  262. 
Maine,  St.,  76. 
Marcellus,  168. 
Margaret,  St.,  76. 
Maria,  S.  dell  'Arco,  107. 
Mark,  75,  99,  114. 
Marsden,  199. 
Martin,  St.,  68,  69,  76,  78,  83, 

117,  120. 

Martyr,  Justin,  41,  42. 
Marus,  St.,  76. 
Mary,  71. 
Mary,  Queen,  248. 
Maspero,  G.,  25,  26. 
Massinger,  35. 


316 


INDEX 


Matthew,  Father,  127, 128, 289  f. 
Maur,  St.,  76. 
Maxwell,  251. 
Mayerne,  Dr.,  153. 
Meaux,  Bishop  of,  47. 
Melanchthon,  129. 
Melton,  74. 
Mesmer,  6,  250. 
Meyer,  R.,  133. 
Mezeray,  225. 
Michel,  M.,  283. 
Milmine,  G.,  304. 
Milner,  John,  Dr.,  83. 
Milton,  242. 
Miranda,  155. 
Miranda,  A.,  de,  130. 
Mix,  E.,  290. 
Mizaldus,  159. 
Momford,  Lord,  219. 
Monardes,  183. 
Montfort,  Marquis,  97. 
Mooney,  N.,  197. 
Morison,  122,  123. 
Morley,  H.,  191. 
Morley,  Squire,  185. 
Moses,  25,  69,  72,  97. 
Moses,  J.,  135. 
Muller,  Johannes,  11. 
Monger,  19. 
Murmerstadt,  285. 
Myers,  A.  T.,  106. 
Myers,    F.    W.    H.,    106,    265, 
271. 

NAAMAN,  83. 
Nabonnese,  98. 
Napoleon,  108. 
Navarette,  201. 
Neri,  St.  Philip,  132. 
Nevius,  J.  F.,  60. 
Newton,  Dr.,  292. 
Nicetius,  67. 
Nicholas,  Dr.  J.,  230. 
Nicodemus,  75. 
Noizet,  265. 

Northampton,  Lord,  197. 
Nottingham,  William,  125. 
Nun,  St.,  213. 


ODILO,  81. 
Oldmixon,  239. 
Onymus,  Prof.,  285. 
Origen,  26,  42,  43,  114. 
Oswald,  St.,  90. 
Otilia,  St.,  74,  76. 


PALLADIUS,  116. 

Paninguem,  Tome",  130. 

Paracelsus,  5,  150,  151,  181,  212, 
249,  250. 

Paris,  Deacon,  105. 

Paris,  Dr.,  142. 

Parthenius,  St.,  115. 

Pascal,  169. 

Pastor,  St.,  98. 

Patrick,  Bishop,  136. 

Patterson,  Mrs.,  298. 

Paul  III,  Pope,  100. 

Paul,  St.,  37,  72,  75,  126. 

Paula,  Franciscus  de,  120. 

Peckham,  Sir  G.,  86. 

Peebles,  J.  M.,  60. 

Pennant,  85. 

Pepys,  201,  204,  210,  216. 

Percy,  Bishop,  246. 

Perier,  Mademoiselle,  103. 

Perkins,  B.  D.,  262. 

Pernel,  St.,  76. 

Peter,  248. 

Peter,  St.,  5,  71,  72,  100,  121. 

Petftin,  261. 

Petronilla,  St.,  76. 

Pettigrew,  T.  J.,  55,  75,  76,  139, 
140,  141,,  146,  157,  159,  162, 
167,  170,  176,  177,  181,  184, 
198.  201,  202,  204,  205,  207, 
208,  213,  218,  225,  236,  244, 
248,  296. 

Pezold,  263. 

Phaire,  St.,  76. 

Philip  I,  243. 

Philip  II  of  Spain,  54. 

Philip  of  Valois,  244. 

Phillips,  Elder,  287. 

Philo,  37. 

Pilate,  Pontius,  41,  97,  105. 


INDEX 


317 


Pilkington,  Bishop,  167. 

Pinkerton,  88. 

Pisces,  74. 

Pistol,  207. 

Pius  IX,  Pope,  296. 

Platerus,  159. 

Plato,  19,  29. 

Pliny,  159,  177,  182,  183,  198, 

209. 

Podalirius,  30. 
Polo,  Marco,  185. 
Pomponatius,  160. 
Ponponazzi,  Pierre,  25. 
Pope,  138. 

Porta,  B.,  151,  159,  251. 
Posidonius,  44. 
Poyan,  C.,  268. 
Price,  W.  T.,  278. 
Protasius,  St.,  65. 
Puller,  115. 
Puyse"gur,     Marquis     de,     260, 

261. 
Pythagoras,  190. 

QUAN,  ST.,  91. 

Quimby,  P.  P.,  17,  297  ff.,  302, 

303. 

Quintan,  St.,  76. 
Quirinus,  St.,  74. 

RACHEL,  145. 
Radegonde,  121. 
Radstock,  Lord,  283. 
Ramesay,  158. 
Raphael,  43. 
Ravenscroft,  190. 
Refinus,  115. 
Reid,  273. 
Remigius,  St.,  77. 
Renodeus,  159,  160,  161. 
Richards,  Elder,  287. 
Richelieu,  Cardinal,  244. 
Richmond,  Duke  of,  231. 
Riley,  I.  W.,  287. 
Roche,  St.,  296. 
Rochus,  St.,  74,  76. 
Romanus,  St.,  76. 
Rosalia,  St.,  102. 


Ruffian,  St.,  76. 
Russel,  200. 
Rusticus,  Elpidius,  59. 
Ruthlein,  Captain,  285. 

SAGITTARIUS,  74. 

Salverte,  E.,  40,  41,  59,  83,  85, 

136. 

Samonicus,  S.,  166. 
Sanderson,  Dr.,  231. 
Sanford,  F.  W.,  281  f. 
Saturninus,  St.,  123. 
Sauveur,  St.,  of  Horta,  130  f. 
Schlatter,  F.,  290. 
Scoresby,  267. 
Scorpius,  74. 
Scott,  R.,  196. 
Scott,  W.,  189, 193, 213. 
Sebastian,  St.,  76,  98. 
Selle,  263. 
Senso,  Dr.,  128. 
Serapion,  180. 
Severin,  St.,  67,  81. 
Severus,  114. 
Servetus,  244. 
Shakespeare,  108,  224,  273. 
Shaw,  203. 
Siemers,  266. 
Sigismund,  St.,  76. 
Simeon,  St.,  97. 
Simpson,  A.  B.,  281. 
Sinsheim,  Count  von,  284. 
Skippon,  198. 
Smith,  Joseph,  Jr.,  286  f. 
Smith,  Sir  T.,  184,  247. 
Socrates,  29,  86. 
Sophronius,  93. 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  231. 
Southey,  143,  273. 
Stengal,  54. 
Stephen,  St.,  64,  75. 
Stephens,  248. 
Sterne,  3. 
Stevens,  E.,  231. 
Stowe,  3. 
Straus,  155. 
Strype,  202. 
Styria,  107. 


318 


INDEX 


Sulpicius,  St.,  77. 
Syward,  John,  125,  126. 

TACITUS,  112. 

Tairise,  St.,  99. 

Tathiedo,  75. 

Tatian,  40. 

Taurus,  74. 

Tecla,  St.,  85. 

Tennyson,  A.,  139. 

Tenos,  Madonna  of,  95. 

Tertullian,  42,  114. 

Theocritus,  189. 

Theodelinda,  66. 

Theodoric,  59. 

Theodosius,  70. 

Thiers,  M.,  192. 

Thmuis,  Bishop,  116. 

Thomas,  of  Celano,  124. 

Thomas,  St.,  77. 

Thomas,  St.,  of  Hereford,  125. 

Tignan,  St.,  75. 

Tooker,  Dr.,  229. 

Torpacion,  114. 

Townley,  140. 

Townshend,  267. 

Trickmore,  190. 

Trine,  R.  W.,  301. 

Trippe,  S.,  148. 

Trundel,  D.,  279  f. 

Tuckey,  C.  L.,  245. 

Tuke,  H.,  11,  237,  286. 

Turner,  211. 

Turner,  Dr.  D.,  239. 

URSULA,  ST.,  102. 

VALENTINE,  76. 
Vanzesmes,  de,  258. 
Vardrille,  St.,  119. 
Venise,  St.,  76. 


Vespasian,  37,  112,  195. 
Victor,  260. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  245. 
Vincent,  St.,  77. 
Vittrici,  Pietro,  132. 
Vitus,  St.,  76,  203. 

WALDERSTEIN,  3. 

Wallery,  St.,  76. 

Wallia,  St.,  76. 

Waterford,  Simon,  125. 

Wenefride,  St.,  91. 

Werenfels,  156,  208. 

Wesley,  J.,  275,  276, 

Westbury,  Lord,  48,  49. 

Whichcote,  Dr.,  136. 

White,  A.  D.,  39.  44,  47,  48,  52, 

78,  100,  101,  110,  146,  233. 
Wierus,  110. 
Wilkins,  Bishop,  136. 
Willabrod,  77. 
William  III,  228,  238. 
William    of    Malmesbury,    225, 

227. 

Wilson,  Mr.,  48. 
Winthrop,  Governor,  19. 
Wirdig,  S.,  251. 
Withers,  F.,  138. 
Wohyus,  E.,  150. 
Wolfart,  263. 
Wolfgang,  St.,  76. 
Wood,  H.,  301. 

XAVIER,  ST.  FRANCIS,  111,  129, 
130. 

ZACCHEUS,  75. 
Zeller,  S.,  280. 
Zola,  E.,  106. 
Zosimos,  93. 


A     000715926     2 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 


DECJJ  1975 

JAN  05  n 

C139 

UCSD  Libr. 

